The goal of the NextGen Precision Health & Ellis Fischel Cancer Center Science Seminar is to highlight transdisciplinary precision research taking place in the cancer field, provide opportunities for collaboration among researchers to build their own research efforts and promote clinical/researcher activity across the University of Missouri System and our partners.

For questions about this event, please reach out to Veronica Lemme.

Disparities-Focused Research: How COE Can Support Research Collaborations Between Basic Scientists, Clinicians and Community Partners

Speaker: Sarah Chavez, Ph.D., Assistant Director, Research & Strategic Partnerships, PECaD Chair, MO Cancer Consortium, Siteman Cancer Center

Date: May 16, 2024, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Location: Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health Building, Atkins Family Seminar Room

*Zoom option available

Register Here

Description

Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) components are tasked with developing knowledge, best practices and tools for effective outreach and engagement of the Cancer Center’s catchment area. The goal of COE is to ensure that all cancer patients and communities benefit from the clinical and scientific advances to reduce the cancer burden and related disparities while engaging communities to promote health equity across the catchment and beyond. As the assistant director of COE at Siteman Cancer Center, Chavez will discuss:

1. How to use data to drive decision-making to address the cancer burden and related disparities in the catchment using data.
2. Strategies to accelerate outreach, education and access to clinical resources in the catchment.
3. Opportunities to foster new collaborations across Missouri to encourage catchment-focused research and promote diverse participation in clinical trials.

About the Speaker

Sarah Chavez is the assistant director of Community Outreach and Engagement, which is part of the Program to Eliminate Cancer Disparities (PECaD) at the Siteman Cancer Center. She leads the Research Support and Strategic Partnerships team for COE, which supports the development of disparities-focused and catchment-focused research projects. Her team also works closely with state-level cancer consortiums, as well as comprehensive cancer control programs in Missouri and Illinois. She currently serves as the chair of the Missouri Cancer Consortium and the Illinois Cancer Partnership Prevention subcommittee. Sarah received a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from University of Missouri, and a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology from Washington University in St. Louis. Her previous laboratory experience includes heart disease, virology, genomics and cancer biology. Sarah currently teaches biology, human disease, global health, genetics and cancer biology for the Pre-Medicine Post-Baccalaureate Program at Washington University.