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The Alliance for Equity in Cancer Care returned to Richmond for its third annual meeting as the initiative continues to advocate for equitable cancer care that reaches everyone, particularly those in rural communities and underserved populations. This year, the two-day event focused on sustainability, scalability and dissemination, as the initiative reached the halfway point of its five-year grant through the Merck Foundation.

The annual meeting brought together nearly 50 grantees and community partners to share and collaborate from eight program sites across the country: Boston Medical Center, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, RWJBarnabas Health, University of Kentucky (UK) Markey Cancer Center and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network®.

The Alliance is led by the National Program Office (NPO) at the VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, in partnership with the VCU Center on Health Advancement. Robert A. Winn, M.D., director and Lipman Chair in Oncology at Massey, senior associate dean for cancer innovation at the VCU School of Medicine and co-director of the Alliance (NPO), reflected on the Alliance’s progress during the past three years, and encouraged the grantees to continue to make a lasting impact on their communities.

Left to right: Alliance leaders Robert A. Winn, M.D. (far left), and Marcie S. Wright, Ph.D., M.P.H. (second from left), are pictured with the Alliance Annual Meeting keynote speaker Brian Rivers, Ph.D., M.P.H. (far right), and Leslie M. Hardy, M.H.S., of the Merck Foundation. "The mission of the Alliance is clear: make it possible for everyone to receive care, resources, and compassion in their cancer journey, regardless of zip code or background," Dr. Winn said. "I am proud of the progress we have made so far to advocate for better health outcomes and more community-focused approaches, but there is still work to be done.”

On Monday, each of the eight grantees shared ways they have knocked down barriers to cancer care, including projects ranging from digital navigation to rallying resources in different communities to work in rural areas to make cancer care more accessible.

Brian Rivers, Ph.D., M.P.H., director of the Cancer Health Equity Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine, delivered the keynote presentation, and zeroed in on strategically and collaboratively forging ahead.

“This work is immensely important because it’s helping raise the tide for all individuals, especially those who might be burdened by certain cancers,” Rivers said. “Just giving them a voice, just giving them the spotlight, so that we can elevate great cancer outcomes for all individuals, but especially those who are suffering disproportionately. A meeting like this allows us to identify those individuals who are sometimes overlooked.”

The Alliance brings together grantees from a vast variety of geographic areas across the country to collaborate on evidence-based strategies for addressing social determinants of health within unique focus populations, particularly through patient navigation and by fostering meaningful partnerships in their respective communities.

Rivers’ keynote presentation honed in on key elements of scalability and sustainability to help grantees forge ahead more strategically and collaboratively. “Even though we may live in geographically diverse locations, a lot of the problems are the same,” Rivers said. “To be able to harmonize a lot of the intermittent strategies around patient navigation and unmet social needs in a setting such as this just speaks volumes and speaks to the power of this alliance.”

Participants heard firsthand from patient navigators, including Samantha Davis from RWJBarnabas, Tamika Smith from Care Alliance and Neusolia Valmond, M.P.H., from Massey, who shared their experiences guiding patients from diagnosis through treatment, while connecting them to critical resources like transportation and housing assistance.

On Tuesday, Katherine Y. Tossas, Ph.D., M.S., director of catchment area data analytics and co-associate director for global oncology at Massey, shared the importance of leveraging data to help sustain the work being done by the grantees to create a lasting impact. She joined a panel with Timothy W. Mullett, M.D., M.B.A., FACS, from UK Markey Cancer Center, and Charles Daniel II, the founder of Geaux Ride, who spoke on the importance of communicating with a variety of audiences.

Reflecting on the conference, Rivers reiterated the importance of community partnerships to help sustain the Alliance’s mission, and increase awareness for new ways to improve timely access to quality cancer care.

“The community serves as our ambassadors, and it’s up to us to continue to partner with them and make their voices heard,” Rivers said.

To learn more about the Alliance, visit equityincancercare.org.

Written by: Preston Willett