Scarlett Lin Gomez, MPH, PhD, Recognized with 2024 AACR Distinguished Lectureship on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities

LOS ANGELES – The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will award Scarlett Lin Gomez, MPH, PhD, with the 2024 AACR Distinguished Lectureship on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities during the 17th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, to be held in Los Angeles September 21-24.

This special AACR award recognizes an investigator whose novel and significant work has had or may have a far-reaching impact on the etiology, detection, diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of cancer health disparities.

Gomez is professor and vice chair of faculty development in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and co-leader of the Cancer Control Program for the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. She is being honored for her outstanding accomplishments in cancer disparities research that have advanced the scientific understanding of cancer etiology and survivorship across underrepresented patient populations.

Gomez’s research has focused and continues to focus on structural and social drivers of health (SDOH) and their contribution to cancer and health disparities. Notably, she developed the California Neighborhoods Data System, a resource for linking neighborhood data on social and built environments to California Cancer Registry data. She has also led innovative studies dedicated to ascertaining the impact of various SDOH—including discrimination, immigration-related stress, and contemporary redlining and racial bias in mortgage lending—on cancer disparities.

One of Gomez’s many laudable achievements has been her leadership in spotlighting the hidden cancer disparities among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander populations. She has been a driving force in highlighting the importance of disaggregating data concerning these diverse populations into distinct groups to better understand the challenges and needs of specific communities. Gomez’s team was the first to assemble data documenting the high incidence of lung cancer among Asian American women who have never smoked. Following this research, Gomez launched the Female Asian Never Smokers (FANS) Study, an ongoing etiologic study investigating possible causes of lung cancer in this patient population, including secondhand smoke, genetics, and cultural factors.

Gomez has been honored with several awards throughout her career, including the Christopher N. H. Jenkins Cancer Control Award (2023), the American Society of Preventive Oncology Joseph F. Fraumeni, Jr. Distinguished Achievement Award (2022), the Mentoring Award (2014) and Above and Beyond Excellence Award (2012), both from the Cancer Prevention Institute of California, and the American Journal of Public Health Author of the Year (2010).

An AACR member since 2009, Gomez is a leader in the AACR’s efforts to combat cancer disparities. She is a member of the program committee for this year’s AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved and previously served as co-chair (2018) and member (2017, 2015, 2013) of the program committee for the same conference. Gomez is a current member of the AACR Minorities in Cancer Research and Women in Cancer Research constituency groups. She was co-chair of the steering committee for the AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report in 2024 and 2022; a member of the Education Committee for the AACR Annual Meeting 2024; and chair and committee member for a number of AACR scientific achievement award and grant committees. Gomez has served in several editorial capacities with the AACR’s journals over the years. She is currently a deputy editor for Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention and an editorial board member for Cancer Prevention Research.

Gomez received her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley, her master’s degree at the University of Michigan, and her PhD at Stanford University. Her award lecture will be held during the Opening Session of the conference, which will take place Saturday, September 21, from 4-6 p.m. PT.

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