Goals for the AACR
It is a great honor to be nominated and considered for a position on the American Association for Cancer Research Board of Directors. My goals as a member of the Board of Directors align with the mission of the AACR, to prevent and cure cancer through research, education, communication, and collaboration. As such, as Board member, my goals are to 1) guide the implementation and evaluation of programmatic activities purposed to advance the AACR’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through research, education, communication, science and policy, and communication; 2) foster innovative science education, training, professional development, and career advancement opportunities; and 3) assist with the development of a strategic plan with a global focus on scaling and advancing the successes of the AACR to middle- and low-income countries.
Research Interests
Behavioral science; cancer disparities; dissemination and implementation science; public health; health disparities; health equity; population-based intervention science; utilizing multi-level/multi-domain/multi-sectoral approaches; novel technological platforms and iterations of the Patient Navigation model; randomized controlled trials; evaluate multi-level, digital health interventions, targeting African American men diagnosed with prostate cancer; social and molecular determinants in lung cancer disparities.
Current Affiliations
Professor, Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine; and director, Cancer Health Equity Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
Previous Positions
Associate professor, Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine (2015-2019), Atlanta, Georgia; associate professor, Department of Oncologic Science, College of Medicine (2013-2014); and adjunct assistant professor, Department of Community and Family Health, College of Public Health (2007), University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; associate member (2013-2014) and assistant member (2008-2013), Department of Health Outcomes and Behavior, Population Sciences Division; and visiting assistant professor, health outcomes and behavior, Cancer Control and Prevention (2006-2008), Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, Florida; associate director, Moffitt Diversity, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida; executive director, Florida Prostate Cancer Network (2006-2009), Tampa, Florida; course instructor, Race, Ethnicity and Health (health and non–health majors), Department of Health and Kinesiology, Division of Health Education (2004-2006); and associate director and senior research scientist, Center for the Study of Health Disparities (2003-2006), Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas; program manager (2002-2003) and program coordinator (2001-2002), Prevention Research Center, School of Public Health; and research specialist, Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine (2000-2001),
the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.
Education
PhD, philosophy, health behavior, and health promotion, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama (2001-2004); MPH, social and behavioral science, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia (1998-2000); BS, biology, Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee (1997).
Postdoctoral Training
Post-doctoral fellow, Center for the Study of Health Disparities, Texas A&M University (2004-2006), College Station, Texas; fellow, Cancer Culture and Literacy (CCL) Institute, Moffitt Cancer Center (2004-2006), Tampa, Florida; fellow, Emerging Leaders in Public Health Program, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School and the School of Public Health (2004-2006), Chapel Hill, North Carolina; intern, public health evaluation, American Cancer Society (1999-2000), Atlanta, Georgia.
Selected AACR Service, Honors, and Awards
Chair, Science Education and Career Advancement Committee (2022-2025); vice chair, Science Education and Career Advancement Committee (2021-2022); chair, Subcommittee on AACR Pilot High School Internship Program (2024-present); member, AACR Margaret Foti Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research Committee (2021-2023); member, AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research Award Committee (2021-2023); member, Task Force on Eliminating Racial Inequities in Cancer Research (2021-present); program committee member, 13th AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved (2020); member, AACR Cancer Progress Report Steering Committee (2019-2020); member, AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report Steering Committee (2019-2020); member, AACR Scientific Achievement Awards Ad Hoc Nominating Committee (2019-2020); member, Annual Meeting Program Committee (2018-2019); conference cochair, 11th AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved (2018); cochair, AACR Think Tank on Cancer Health Disparities (2018); member, AACR-Minorities in Cancer Research Jane Cooke Wright Memorial Lectureship Award Committee (2017-2019); member (2017-2020), member, Science Policy and Government Affairs Committee (2017-2022); member, AACR Distinguished Lecture on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities Committee, Funded by Susan G. Komen® (2017-2019).
Selected Non-AACR Service, Honors, and Awards
Chair, United States Review Panel, Movember’s Prostate Cancer Health Equity Initiative (2024); cochair, MSM Strategy Design Team (Pilar I: Translating Discovery into Health Equity) (2022-present); recipient, Excellence in Mentoring Award, UAB Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham (2018); member, MSM Leadership Council (2018-present); council member, National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health (2015-2019); vice chair, Florida Cancer Control and Research Advisory Council (2014-2015); recipient, “Division of Population Science 2014 Award for Outstanding Faculty Performance” in Health Outcomes and Behavior, Moffitt Cancer Center (2014); charter member, State of Florida Prostate Cancer Advisory Council (2011-2014); member, Executive Committee, Florida Cancer Control Research Advisory Council (2010-2014); honoree, Health Disparities Scholar, NIH National Institutes on Minority Health and Health Disparities Loan Repayment Program, Moffitt Cancer Center (2008, 2010).