New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/01/2014 --The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s 21st Annual NYC Women of Distinction Luncheon, featuring prominent news anchors, renowned doctors and heartwarming personal stories of survival. The Women of Distinction Luncheon brings together hundreds of New Yorkers to raise awareness for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and help the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America find cures and improve the lives of patients. It includes a fashion show by Bergdorf Goodman, featuring the evening collections of Elie Saab, Marchesa and Monique Lhuillier.

The event is MC'd by Liz Cho, veteran news anchor for WABC-TV’s Eyewitness News. The event is chaired by Ellen Crown, Elyse Newhouse, Michelle Swarzman and Michele Sweetwood. The luncheon honors esteemed New York City Pediatric Gastroenterologist, Dr. Robbyn Sockolow. Two remarkable teenage girls, living with these diseases, will be available for interviews as well.

Known collectively as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis affects 1.4 million Americans. They are painful, medically incurable diseases that attack the digestive system. Crohn's disease may attack anywhere along the digestive track, while ulcerative colitis inflames only the large intestine (colon). Symptoms may include abdominal pain, persistent diarrhea, rectal bleeding, fever, weight loss and fatigue. Many patients require numerous hospitalizations and surgeries. These are common disorders, affecting 1 in every 200 Americans, with bad consequences if not detected and treated early, yet long delays in diagnosis and effective treatment are common because people, including primary care physicians, are not familiar with the symptoms. The average delay in diagnosis is 1-3 years and the average patient is misdiagnosed twice. Most people develop the diseases between 15 and 35, however the diseases are becoming increasingly more common in children.

The Luncheon will honor esteemed New York City Pediatric Gastroenterologist, Dr. Robbyn Sockolow, Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Weill Medical Center, Cornell University, as the Woman of Distinction in Medicine. The Rising Stars are Casey Mintz, a teen living with ulcerative colitis, and her young cousin, Taylor Sinett, who wrote the children’s book Weasel on an Easel in Casey’s honor and is donating 100% of the book’s proceeds to CCFA.

Event Date and Time: Thursday, May 1st 11 AM - 2 PM
Event Location: The Waldorf-Astoria Grand Ballroom, 301 Park Avenue at 50th Street
Website: http://www.ccfa.org/chapters/newyork/events/21st-annual-women-of.html

Contact Information:
Pace Public Relations
Annie Scranton
1350 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 293
New York, NY 10019
Telephone: (646) 599-9222
Email: annie@pacepublicrelations.com