2026: 9th Annual Head & Neck Cancer Patient & Caregiver Education Symposium

April 11, 2026 | In Person Only | Interactive & Inspiring

Event Agenda

8:00am-8:45am	Registration and breakfast
8:45 am-8:55am	Welcome – Heather Starmer, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-S
9:00 am-9:15am	Sound Bath- Julia Francis
9:20am-9:35am	Keynote Address
9:40am-10:20am	Integrating Arts and Healing Panel- Sophina McDaniel MPH, Amy Li, Julia Francis
10:20am-11:15am	Creativity breakout rooms: Visual arts, Dance and Writing
11:15am-11:45am	Current advances in Head and Neck Cancer Care- Chris Holsinger MD
11:50am-12:40pm	Swallowing Panel: Jennifer Kizner SLP, John Clarke MD, Erin Watson PsyD ABPP, Nancy Jiang MD
12:40pm-1:40pm	Lunch
1:40pm-2:00pm	Cultivating Resilience – Nicole Barr NP, LMFT
2:05pm-2:35pm	Maintaining Balance Panel - Nicole Barr NP, patient, caregiver
2:40pm-2:55pm	Break
3:00pm-3:20pm	Consideration of Long-term survivorship- Beth Beadle, MD
3:25pm-4:05pm	Why Stanford? Panel –Steven Artandi MD, Lidia Schapira MD, Sarah McDonald
4:10pm-4:45pm	General Q&A – Yushen Qian MD, Hyu Kang MD, Katie Hohenberger MD

We are thrilled to invite you to save the date for our upcoming Patient & Caregiver Symposium—returning in person for 2026! This years' experience will be interactive, creative, and uplifting, offering something truly special and different from previous years.

Important Update:

This year’s symposium will be in person only
No livestream will be offered
The event will be recorded, and sessions will be shared on our website afterward

New for 2026: Hands-On Creative Breakout Rooms!
Participants will have the opportunity to engage in enriching, guided sessions including:

Visual Arts
Dance
Writing

These interactive experiences are designed to inspire connection, expression, and healing in a supportive community.

Previous Symposia