Karriem Watson, DHSc, MS, MPH, associate director of community engagement at the UI Cancer Center, and Vida Henderson, PhD, PharmD, MPH, MFA, research scientist in the Office of Community Engaged Research and Implementation Science (OCERIS), and research assistant professor in the UIC School of Public Health, are attending the annual Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation Grantee Summit in Princeton, N.J., this week on behalf of the UI Cancer Center.
The theme of this year’s summit is “Making a Difference in Health Equity: Visions – Actions – Impacts from the Frontlines.” The event reflects the transformative nature of grantee projects to meet the treatment, care and support needs of vulnerable and medically underserved populations facing cancer, cardiovascular disease, and disaster preparedness and relief. The UI Cancer Center is displaying a poster of its work titled “University of Illinois Cancer Screening, Access, Awareness and Navigation.”
David Satcher, MD, PhD, former U.S. Surgeon General and director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), served as keynote speaker.
The UI Cancer Center recently received a $1.5 million grant from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation to develop population-specific cancer prevention and screening programs at community hospitals or health centers in three Chicago neighborhoods – Austin, Humboldt Park and South Shore. The programs will rely on community navigators to reach more than 600 people living in these high-need areas and work directly in those communities to help remove barriers to obtaining an early diagnosis, a key factor in long-term and lifetime cancer survival.