Miami Marlins to celebrate Dr. Neha Goel from University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center on Sunday, May 9 as honorary bat girl for her efforts to support the fight against breast cancer

MIAMI – The Miami Marlins are proud to recognize Dr. Neha Goel as the club’s Honorary Bat Girl for Sunday’s game, May 9 vs. the Milwaukee Brewers. Dr. Goel is a triple board-certified surgical oncologist and surgeon-scientist at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center where she is as an Assistant Professor of Surgical Oncology. The annual Honorary Bat Girl initiative is commemorated each Mother’s Day to highlight extraordinary efforts to support the fight against breast cancer.

Dr. Goel received the news on a surprise video call with Marlins pitcher Richard Bleier, who shared the details of the announcement with her and then bonded over their respective connections to the fight against breast cancer.

On Sunday at loanDepot park, Dr. Goel will be a special guest of the club for Mother’s Day, receiving Honorary Bat Girl gear, making the official “Play ball!” announcement, and being recognized during the Marlins Impact Moment during the mid-fourth inning break on MarlinsVision.

Marlins players will use pink bats and sport pink wristbands in commemoration of the “Going To Bat Against Breast Cancer” initiative, which is intended to raise awareness and funds, through donations and auction proceeds, to support efforts to address breast cancer. In recognition of this effort on Mother’s Day, Marlins coaches and players also will wear specially designed pink New Era caps, while Club uniforms will feature the MLB breast cancer awareness logo, adorned with the symbolic pink ribbon, on the left chest. A matching pair of pink socks made by Stance is optional for every player. The following game equipment can be used for breast cancer awareness: bats, batting gloves, footwear, wrist/elbow/leg guards, and catcher’s equipment. The pink ribbon will also appear on the bases at loanDepot park and the official dugout lineup cards.

A limited amount of tickets remain available at Marlins.com/Tickets for Sunday’s game vs. the Milwaukee Brewers. First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m.

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About Dr. Neha Goel:

Dr. Neha Goel is a triple board-certified surgical oncologist and surgeon-scientist at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine-Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center where she is as an Assistant Professor of Surgical Oncology. She completed her general surgery residency at Columbia University Medical Center, a surgical critical care fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a complex general surgical oncology fellowship at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Her clinical practice focuses on the multidisciplinary management of breast cancer, melanoma, and sarcoma.

She has extensive experience in disparities research and health policy experience from her research at the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Harvard Medical School and work with the World Health Organization on providing high-quality cancer care in low- and middle-income countries. She leads cancer disparities outcomes research in the Division of Surgical Oncology and serves as the institutional-PI for a multi-center collaboration of safety-net hospitals studying cancer care and outcomes at public hospitals to improve local and national cancer control and treatment efforts for vulnerable populations.

She is the founder and director of the Miami Breast Cancer Disparities Study which is a clinically annotated biospecimen repository with in-depth structured surveys evaluating social determinants of health. She leads a research team that focuses on breast cancer, cancer disparities, translational epidemiology, genomics, and scientific outreach/engagement in the context of addressing cancer disparities. She aims to improve local, national, and global cancer control efforts in the areas of cancer health disparities through targeted cancer prevention efforts, community outreach and engagement, and the use of precision medicine via molecular epidemiology to develop biomarkers and tailored treatments to improve breast cancer health equity and outcomes.