CDI Researcher Co-Authors Commentary on Community Outreach & Engagement (COE) in Prestigious, Peer-Reviewed Journal

CDI Researcher Co-Authors Commentary on Community Outreach & Engagement (COE) in Prestigious, Peer-Reviewed Journal

Lisa Carter-Bawa, CDI faculty member and member of the Alliance of Black COE Directors, helps reflect on mission to fight racial and socioeconomic disparities in cancer care.

In a recently published commentary, the Alliance of Black Community Outreach & Engagement urged increased investment and inclusion in community efforts with regard to involvement in cancer centers nationwide.

The article was published in this month’s issue of JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute by lead author Dr. Hayley S. Thompson, and co-authored by Lisa Carter-Bawa, Ph.D., MPH, APRN, ANP-C, FAAN, faculty member of the Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI), and director of Cancer Community Outreach and Engagement at the John Theurer Cancer Center. Carter-Bawa is also Deputy Associate Director for Community Outreach and Engagement for John Theurer Cancer Center’s research partner Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Points throughout the commentary stressed the value of COE’s role in addressing issues related to cancer burden and disparities in cancer centers’ catchment area communities.

“We must ensure that research, prevention, and treatment efforts are tailored to the demands of each community that these NCI-designated cancer centers serve,” said Dr. Carter-Bawa, who is director of the CDI’s Cancer Prevention Precision Control Institute (CPPCI), as well as a professor of Medical Sciences at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. “Such community outreach and engagement is too often marginalized within the scientific community.”

The Alliance of Black COE Scientific Directors–on which Dr. Carter-Bawa serves—was established to advance education and collaboration with the goals of setting standards for cancer health equity in the United States.

“Lisa Carter-Bawa is tireless in her efforts to illuminate the issues of disparity in cancer prevention and treatment along racial and socioeconomic lines,” said David Perlin, Ph.D., the Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President of the CDI. “It’s through her involvement in such research as this that COE leaders can bring awareness of and investment to cancer centers in meeting the needs of their communities to mitigate such disparities.”

Often underappreciated and unacknowledged, COE’s crucial role in exposing and addressing disproportionate cancer burden within Black and other underserved communities is essential in finding economic resources to solve such issues, according to Dr. Carter-Bawa.

“In addition to my work with the CDI, I am fortunate to be part of a team so dedicated to drive COE initiatives and goals with specific, timely, and measurable outcomes,” added Dr. Carter-Bawa. “As we further the discussion of aligning community and cancer center goals, we can create an inclusive approach ensuring a COE sustainability model for all involved.”

Read the full published commentary here.