News Center

Representatives from about 50 cancer centers, including VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, participated in a national Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Summit in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 30. The sessions were held through a partnership between the American Association of Cancer Institutes (AACI), the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the Cancer Center DEI Network.

“It is critical to our mission. It is proof that nothing great happens without passion, a plan and culture,” said Robert A. Winn, M.D., director and Lipman Chair in Oncology at Massey.

Winn served as the moderator for a panel titled “Collaboration to Effect Change: Cancer Center Directors and Associate Directors for DEI Needs Discussion."

During the dialogue, leaders identified the need for more effective collaborations and strategies to provide equitable health care. They discussed challenges in implementing DEI policies with current staffing and called this area of work a science as much as the research happening in the labs.

“Look how far we’ve come,” Winn commented to the audience. “DEI was just an idea in the 1970s. Now today we are having summits to talk about how we can advance it in all aspects of cancer.”

Tremayne D. Robertson, M.Ed., M.S., C.A.S., director for DEI at Massey, called the DEI Summit an invaluable vehicle for networking and resource sharing that creates partnerships across the country.

“This summit is the fuel needed for the never-ending journey that is DEI inclusive excellence,” said Robertson. “Being in the trenches with focused, like-minded people is priceless.”

The DEI Summit was held in conjunction with the AACI joint annual meeting with the Cancer Center Administrators Forum (CCAF), held Oct. 1-3 in the district.

Written by: Amy Lacey