TROY — Dr. Otis W. Brawley, executive vice president of the American Cancer Society, will be the featured speaker for the 18th Bill and Ruth McGraw Cancer Awareness Symposium, Oct. 16, at 6 p.m.,in the Crystal Room, 845 W. Market St., Troy.

Admission is free; however, reservations are required by noon, Oct. 12 and can be made by calling 937-440-7541.

He will speak on the topic, “How We Do Harm: The Risks of Over Diagnosis and Treatment.” A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation.

Brawley also is chief medical and scientific officer at the American Cancer Society. He is responsible for promoting the goals of cancer prevention, early detection and quality treatment through cancer research and education.

Brawley serves as a professor of hematology, oncology, medicine and epidemiology at Emory University in Atlanta. He previously was director of the Georgia Cancer Center at Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta, and deputy director for cancer control at the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University.

The annual symposium is sponsored by the UVMC Foundation and the Upper Valley Medical Center Cancer Care Center. It is named in memory of Bill and Ruth McGraw, parents of Bill McGraw III, and his sisters, Karen McGraw and Chris Grilliot. Between them, Bill and Ruth McGraw had cancer five times, but neither died from the disease.

The program is made possible by a grant from the McGraw Family Fund of The Troy Foundation and a grant from the UVMC Foundation.