Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities

• Community Engagement
• Community Partnerships
• Outreach and Education
• Training Programs
• Clinical Study Accrual Monitoring
• Resources

The mission of Siteman Cancer Center’s Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities (PECaD) is to create a national model for eliminating local and regional disparities in cancer education, prevention and treatment.

Through a community advisory committee and community partnerships, PECaD works with community representatives to find solutions that reduce disparities. Our approach includes the following strategies:

Outreach and Education

• Identify medically under-served parts of the community and related barriers to quality cancer care for these populations.
• Enhance community health and access to quality cancer care and health information.
• Evaluate program efforts to promote and bring education and prevention messages to the community.
• Develop a plan for long-term continuation of outreach and education.

Quality Improvement and Research

• Conduct quality-improvement activities to assess and improve efforts to end cancer disparities.
• Promote appropriate patient participation in clinical studies at Siteman by gender, race and ethnicity.
• Engage community leadership to strengthen relevance, reach and direction of cancer disparities research.
• Use community-based participatory research approaches to understand and eliminate cancer disparities.

Training

• Foster co-learning among community members and academic researchers to eliminate cancer disparities.
• Mentor junior faculty members and students in research methods and approaches to eliminate cancer disparities.

PECaD focuses on strengthening capacity to reduce cancer disparities by working with community organizations, cancer survivors, clinicians, researchers and advocates to enhance education and awareness about cancer risk, prevention, community resources and care centers. We conduct quality-improvement initiatives and research at our medical center and in our community to understand and advance ideas that will eliminate disparities. PECaD works across the region, including the St. Louis metro area, East St. Louis and St. Clair County, IL, Southeast Missouri Bootheel region, and Southern and Central Illinois.

Our Clinical Study Accrual Monitoring/Clinical Studies Outreach Program evaluates patient participation in clinical studies at Siteman and helps study teams achieve appropriate representation by gender, race and ethnicity. PECaD also is committed to training junior faculty members, students and community members in community-based participatory research and program approaches to reduce cancer disparities.

PECaD is funded by the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health (U54 CA153460) through Aug. 31, 2016, the Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine and the Siteman Cancer Center. PECaD receives additional funding for specific programs and projects.

PECaD Overview
PECaD Report to Stakeholders

Community Advisory Committee

PECaD’s Community Advisory Committee, referred to internally as the Disparities Elimination Advisory Committee (DEAC), consists of cancer survivors and advocates, representatives from community health-care organizations, representatives from community-based organizations and academic/university faculty members and staff.

The DEAC meets quarterly and provides overall guidance and direction for PECaD programs and initiatives. It helps prioritize community needs within PECaD’s program framework, provides input in the development, implementation and evaluation of our cancer control and prevention activities, and recommends additional collaborations as needed to eliminate cancer disparities.

Chair Members

Chair

Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH
Principal Investigator and Director, PECaD
Niess-Gain Professor, Washington University School of Medicine
Associate Director, Prevention and Control, Siteman Cancer Center
Deputy Director, Institute for Public Health, Washington University

Community Chair

Maranda Witherspoon, MPPA
Program Officer, Missouri Foundation for Health

Community Members (Voting)

Denise Hooks-Anderson, MD
Assistant Professor Family and Community Medicine

Leon Ashford, PhD
Community Advocate, Prostate Cancer Survivor
Retired Professor

Galan Gritts
Lutheran Indian Ministries

Sherrill Jackson, RN, CPNP, MSA
President, The Breakfast Club
Manager of School Based Programs, Betty Jean Kerr People’s Health Centers Inc.

Saundra L. McClain-Kloeckener
(Retired)

Donald Suggs, DDS
Publisher and Owner, St. Louis American Newspaper

Sherry Taluc
(Retired)

Sal Valadez
LiUNA Midwest Region -LECET – Eastern Missouri Laborers’ District Council

Academic/Institutional Members (Voting)

Aimee James, PhD, MPH, MA
Professor, Washington University School of Medicine

Lannis Hall, MD, MPH
Director of Radiation Oncology, Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital
Assistant Professor of Clinical Radiation Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine

Kellie Thompson, MSW
Director, Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies, Brown School of Social Work, Washington University

Bettina Drake, PhD, MPH
Professor, Washington University School of Medicine

Vetta Sanders Thompson, PhD
Professor, Brown School of Social Work, Washington University

Scientific Leadership Team

PECaD’s scientific leadership team is charged with molding the ongoing discussions of the community advisory committee and community partnerships into relevant programmatic plans. This group of Washington University faculty members and staff and the community co-chair for our advisory committee meet monthly.

Principal Investigator/Director
Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH
Niess-Gain Professor, Washington University School of Medicine
Associate Director of Prevention and Control, Siteman Cancer Center
Deputy Director, Institute for Public Health, Washington University

Advisory Committee Community Co-Chair
Maranda Witherspoon, MPPA
Program Officer, Missouri Foundation for Health

Community Outreach/Education Program Leader
Vetta Sanders Thompson, PhD
Professor, Brown School of Social Work, Washington University

Research Program Leader
Aimee James, PhD, MPH
Professor, Washington University School of Medicine

Clinical Studies Outreach Program Leader
Lannis Hall, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Clinical Radiation Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine
Director of Radiation Oncology, Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital

Evaluation Co-leader
Bettina Drake, PhD, MPH
Professor, Washington University School of Medicine

Contact PECaD

Email: PECaD@wustl.edu

Phone: 314-286-2587