Cancer Health Equity Report | The Future of Cancer Health Equity

The Future of Cancer Health Equity

3 Ways CHECoE Is Innovating

1. Virtual Communities

In 2023, our community outreach and education team added the Mighty Networks platform, which is a bidirectional communication tool for our Community Scientists Program. Mighty Networks allows our Community Scientists to interact in real time with each other. The platform serves as a launch point for future bidirectional communication opportunities with the community.

2. Community Dialogue Guide

In 2023, the CHECoE team launched The Community Dialogue Guide, a comprehensive resource to help researchers collaborate with communities and improve their engagement with community members. It contains a comprehensive step-by-step guide, templates and samples to reference to increase positive bidirectional communication with the community. View the full guide and the quick reference sheet.

3. Digital Information Library

Our recently launched Digital Information Library on our ScreenNJ website was created in collaboration with the CHECoE community outreach and education team. The library serves as a resource of digital flyer and pamphlets at no cost to the public. The entire catalog is available to download and print and will be updated as needed.

Our Postdoctoral Fellows

JINGHUA AN

2022 – 2023, Rutgers University

Dr. An joined as a postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Dr. Anita Kinney. She received a Ph.D. in nursing at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2022. Dr. An’s publications demonstrate her diverse research interests: cancer screening and early detection, cancer supportive care, risk communication, as well as health disparities. Her doctoral dissertation project examined individual, social, cultural, and health care determinants of delayed presentation in Chinese women with symptomatic breast cancer; she also adapted a Chinese Breast Cancer Beliefs Scale for measuring beliefs contributing to delaying or forgoing breast cancer screening, diagnosis, or treatment.

Circe Le Compte

2020 – 2022, Rutgers University

Dr. Le Compte was a postdoctoral fellow in cancer health equity working under the mentorship of Dr. Anita Kinney. She holds master of science and doctor of science degrees in social and behavioral sciences from Harvard University, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, specializing in theory and qualitative and quantitative research methods, and racial and sexual/gender minority health. During her time as a postdoctoral fellow at Rutgers Cancer Institute, she focused on cancer health equity. Much of her research, however, has addressed the use of novel interventions, to understand the lived experiences and improve the health outcomes of medically underserved populations, notably Black/African American gay and bisexual men and transwomen.

Celebrating Our Interns

Casey Fortson

2022-Present, Rutgers University

Casey Fortson

Casey Fortson, 2022-present, Rutgers University, Rutgers Delta Scholar ’24, Eagleton Undergraduate Associate ’25, Lloyd C. Gardner Fellow, Honors College Scholar ’25, worked with our statewide comprehensive patient navigation team and our new mobile health unit. Casey’s latest effort included studying our UBER Health Transportation program to improve our infrastructure and patient connections. As a Delta Scholar, which are selected for their academic achievements and commitment to public service, Casey attended a 12-day summer institute at Mississippi State University and the Delta region, followed by a five-day trip to Boston, including Harvard and Brandeis Universities. The Lloyd C. Gardner Fellowship provides Rutgers undergraduates with the opportunity to deepen their awareness of global issues and to take a prominent role in addressing pressing social issues through policy, law, business, health, academia, politics and other careers.

Olivia Gonzales

Spring 2022, Montclair State University, participated in the creation of a cancer survivorship nutrition plan and accompanying video to be used for future educational programs.

Dominque Noel

Spring 2022, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University, created an LGBTQ+ cultural competency curriculum for staff and faculty.

Brook Margolin

Spring 2022 and fall 2022, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University, worked with the ScreenNJ program to assess and coordinate the transportation needs of the community to screening appointments in spring 2022. In fall 2022, she delivered a presentation detailing this data for all 21 New Jersey counties.

Reem Abughannam

Fall 2022, Rutgers University School of Public Health, pre-med track student, provided support to our patient navigation team, researching clinical providers and specialists that will screen uninsured patients across New Jersey.

Tabina Rasheed

Fall 2022, Rutgers University School of Public Health, supported our mobile health team by collecting data around mobile health clinics and services provided across New Jersey and areas, like NY and PA.