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ALL Cancer CARE Team
Shine Chang, PhD
Professional and/or Academic Title: University of Texas System Distinguished Teaching Professor, Ashbel Smith Professor, Department of Health Disparities Research; Director, MD Anderson Cancer Prevention Research Training Program
Institutional Affiliation, City and State: University of Texas MD AndersonCancer Center, Houston, TX
Professional interests:
- Cancer prevention research & epidemiology
- Innovative evidence-based strategies for education, training & professional development for researchers
- Promotion of diversity in the academic health center workforce
Bio: Degreed in epidemiology, Shine leads at MD Anderson a large nationally recognized training program in cancer prevention funded for 30 years by the National Cancer Institute for college students through postdoctoral fellows. In support of training and education, she leads research to build the evidence-base for interventions to diversify the biomedical and psychosocial workforce in addition to her research in obesity and weight gain as risk and prognostic factors for cancer. Past NIH-funded efforts have focused on promoting community-based participatory research training for scientists focused on Latinx health; the influence of professional development on retention and promotion in rank of women faculty careers in academic medicine; the role of mentorship and scientific communication skills development of trainees in research career persistence; and building tailored cancer prevention curricula in international settings through international partnerships. For fun, she likes to swing dance with her husband, which drives their three dogs nuts.
Webpage: https://faculty.mdanderson.org/profiles/shine_chang.html
Why I think cancer care and research are important: “The best way I know how to have impact on the future is through education and training and when I realized a gap existed in the biomedical research workforce needed to advance the evidence-base for quality care across the cancer continuum from prevention through survivorship and palliative care for many Americans, I asked people to step up and they did!”
Nelson F. Sanchez, MD
Professional and/or Academic Title: Associate Professor of Medicine
Institutional Affiliation, City and State: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) & Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM), New York, NY
Professional interests:
- Medical education
- Cancer research
- Pre-faculty development
Bio: Nelson joined the MSKCC & WCM faculty in 2008. He has published research on cancer prevention, LGBT medical education, transgender patients’ access to medical care, and LGBT health professionals’ perspectives on academic medicine careers. Since joining MSKCC, Nelson developed the LGBT Allies Training Workshop, Chair’s Weill Cornell Medicine’s LGBTQ+ Steering Committee and Co-Chairs the Annual National LGBT Health Workforce Conference. He is also Vice-President of Building the Next Generation of Academic Physicians Initiative (BNGAP), a nonprofit that supports diverse trainee interest in academic medicine careers. A Nuyorican raised in the Bronx, Nelson enjoys cooking and traveling around the world with his husband.
Webpage: https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/doctors/nelson-sanchez
Why I think cancer care and research are important: “Training the next generation of cancer researchers will ensure that all Americans receive quality care along the cancer care continuum.”
Miria Kano, PhD
Professional and/or Academic Title: Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Preventive Medicine, University of New Mexico; Member of the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center; and Regional Coordinating Director, Geographic Management of Cancer Health Disparities Program (GmaP) Region 3
Institutional Affiliation, City and State: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Professional interests:
- Population science and cancer disparities research
- Cancer survivorship
- Creating evidence-based strategies for education, training & professional development for researchers
Bio: As a medical anthropologist, Miria conducts population based research, working with diverse communities that experience cancer and health disparities, specifically those that are ethnic/racial and/or sexual and gender minorities, or those who are rural residing. Miria has been co-investigator on NIH funded initiatives to improve access to behavioral health counseling, substance use treatment, and primary care. She authored a Patient-Centered Outcome Research Institute (PCORI) Pipeline to Proposal Award (2014-2017) building a statewide network of physicians, health services researchers, healthcare advocates, and SGM community members to develop research, publishing guidelines for conducting culturally competent primary care research with SGM communities. Her current study uses mixed methods approaches to identify salient features of minority stress as it contributes to the cultural- and cancer-specific challenges experienced by SGM patients receiving oncology, oncology/palliative, and survivorship care, and their informal cancer caregivers.
Why I think cancer care and research are important: “As a health disparities researcher, I have seen tremendous social changes that have improved life for many Americans. Yet, we still see persistent health disparities across the cancer care continuum. I think that the creation of a more expansive health workforce that is adequately prepared to ask, study and respond to important research questions pertaining to cancer prevention, treatment and survivorship is key to helping us achieve health for all Americans”
Irene Tami-Maury, DMD, MSc, DrPH
Professional and/or Academic Title: Assistant Professor (Tenure Track)
Institutional Affiliation, City and State:
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX
Professional interests:
- HIV research
- Cancer prevention research
- Global health
Bio: Dr. Irene Tami-Maury joined the faculty at UTHealth Houston in January 2020, following nine years at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her research focuses on two key areas:
- Cancer prevention and control among understudied populations, including individuals living with HIV, cancer patients and survivors, adolescents and young adults, and other groups facing barriers to healthcare access.
- The use of digital health tools (eHealth/mHealth) and online training platforms to support healthcare providers and community health workers in resource-limited settings, both in the U.S. and internationally.
Outside of her academic work, Irene enjoys spending time outdoors and is passionate about literature and film, particularly works in the magical realism genre.
Webpage:
Why I think cancer care and research are important: “Cancer care should be accessible and responsive to meet the needs of all individuals. Advancing cancer research and training ensures that no one is left behind in the pursuit of better care outcomes and quality of life.”
Advisory Committee
Ronit Elk, PhD
Professional and/or Academic Title: Professor
Co-Director, MMR-CBPR-QR Institutional Core,
Co-Leader, CBPR Core, Comprehensive Center for Healthy Living Research Center
Institutional Affiliation, City and State: Division of Geriatrics, Gerontology, and Palliative Care,
Department of Medicine, Heersink School of Medicine
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Professional interests:
- Health equity
- Cancer survivorship
- End of life
- Community Based Participatory Research
Bio: Dr. Ronit Elk is a Professor in the Dept. of Medicine, University of Alabama, Birmingham, in the Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Palliative Care
Throughout her 30-year research career, Dr. Elk’s focus has been on health equity. During her ten years at the American Cancer Society as Scientific Program Director of Cancer Control and Prevention Research she developed and directed the Cancer Health Equity Research. Since her return to academia, in all her NIH funded studies, her focus is on those with serious illness and/or at end of life. In all her studies she implements a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach, an evidence-based, research and social justice focused approach, based on equitablepartnerships with minoritized communities, primarily the southern African American community and the southern LGBT community. The healthcare programs built in partnership with the community are based on that community’s cultural preferences and lived experiences. The most recent is a training program developed BY the African American community to train healthcare providers in providing culturally appropriate and respectful care to older African Americans with serious illness, “African American Communities Speak” in which over 500 healthcare professionals have been trained. She directs a national CBPR Intensive Training every Summer, followed by mentoring trainees from all over the US and beyond, in designing, writing and implementing their own community-engaged research grants
Dr. Elk has been awarded the Richard Payne Outstanding Achievement in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award, from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
Mandi Pratt-Chapman, PhD
Professional and/or Academic Title: Associate Center Director, Patient-Centered Initiatives and Health Equity
Institutional Affiliation, City and State: GW Cancer Center, Washington, DC
Bio: Dr. Pratt-Chapman’s research has focused on workforce capacity to advance patient-centered care and health equity in oncology. She led the development of national, consensus-based core competencies; a no-cost training; and a certification process for patient navigators. She was co-PI for the National Cancer Survivorship Resource Center and co-authored four holistic clinical practice guidelines on breast, prostate, colorectal and head and neck cancer survivorship care. She has also been PI for three and co-PI for one Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute-funded projects to inform health services standards for cancer survivorship and catalyze dissemination and implementation of evidence-based cancer survivorship and patient navigation practices. Dr. Pratt-Chapman is also working to improve the health of LGBTQI populations through technical assistance and training for health care providers. She has published many papers on effective training to reduce implicit bias and improve self-reported competence in provision of LGBTQI health care. Her personal mission is to scale evidence-based practices to optimize health for as many people as possible as quickly as possible.
Gwendolyn P. Quinn, PhD
Professional and/or Academic Title: Livia Wan M.D. Endowed Chair and Vice-Chair of Research in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Professor in the departments of Population Health and the Center for Medical Ethics.
Institutional Affiliation, City and State: NYU Grossman School of Medicine New York, NY
Professional interests:
- reproductive health
- medical ethics
- cancer research
- health disparities
Bio: Dr. Quinn received her Ph.D. in educational psychology from Florida State University, did a post-doctoral fellowship in public health at the University of South Florida, and has post-graduate certification in Program Evaluation and Biomedical Ethics. She joined the faculty of New York University in 2017 and is the department chair of the promotion and tenure committee and a member of the NYU faculty senate. Prior to this move she was a member of the Moffitt Cancer Center and the University of South Florida for 18 years. Her research focuses on improving patient/family/physician communication through understanding the barriers and benefits of health care use from a multi- stakeholder perspective. Her current research and training efforts are in the areas of : Reproductive Health, Sexuality, and Fertility Preservation, Quality of Life issues in Pediatric, Adolescent & Young Adult and LGBTQ+ Cancer Populations, and Cancer Clinical Trials (including minority barriers to participation); and training researchers to conduct research with high risk populations. She is the author of over 300 peer-reviewed publications and has had funding from NIH, ACS, The V Foundation, and March of Dimes.
Why I think cancer care and research are important: Cultural humility, being open to the aspects of identity that are most important to another is a perfect example how the platinum rule supersedes the golden rule. The golden rule state” do unto others as you would have done unto to you.” The platinum rule is what we should all strive for “do unto others as they would have done unto them.” Going the extra step to find out what and who is important to the person.
Contact 4allcancercare@gmail.com if you have any questions about Cancer CARE’s work