Organizing Committee
Dr. Martin is a Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the UTHSC College of Medicine, Founding Director of the Center for Innovation in Health Equity Research (CIHER) – A Community Cancer Alliance for Transformative Change, and Co-Director of the Tennessee Clinical and Translational Science Institute (TN-CTSI). CIHER brings together community members, researchers, clinicians, community organizations, and other stakeholders committed to eliminating cancer health disparities across the cancer continuum. Projects have included interventions to promote cancer screening, adherence to cancer treatment, participation in cancer trials, and projects to promote healthy behaviors. Dr. Martin is committed to mentoring the next generation of scientists and has mentored over 70 trainees across the career trajectory and across academic disciplines.
Shannon Christy, PhD, is an Assistant Member in the Department of Health Outcomes and Behavior at Moffitt Cancer Center. With an overarching aim of reducing cancer disparities, Dr. Christy’s interdisciplinary program of research has focused on cancer preventive and early detection behaviors. Themes of her research include community-based participatory approaches, understanding the role of affect, cognitions, social determinants of health, and patient-provider communication in engagement in cancer preventive and early detection behaviors, and evaluating the efficacy of tailored and/or targeted behavioral interventions.
Dr. Meade is a Senior Member at Moffitt Cancer Center in the Division of Population Science, Health Outcomes & Behavior Program. Her research interests span cancer prevention to survivorship, and aims to bring information, services and scientific advancements ‘right back to the community’ in ways that are understandable and meaningful. This work entails the use of community-based participatory methods and focuses on building sustained community partnerships and multi-institutional relationships for improved health that take into account culture and literacy. Dr. Meade aims to improve health care access and promote cancer prevention among vulnerable and at-risk populations.
Clement K. Gwede, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN: Dr. Gwede is a Senior Member at Moffitt Cancer Center. He is a community-minded behavioral scientist whose research portfolio is diverse and has included efforts to address the challenges medically-underserved populations face when making informed decisions about colorectal, prostate, and cervical cancer screenings and biobanking. He has extensive experience developing, conducting and evaluating CBPR informed interventions.
Raegan W. Durant, MD, MPH, is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the University of Alabama at Birmingham in both the Division of Preventive Medicine and General Internal Medicine. Dr. Durant received a BS in Biology from Howard University and MD from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed residency training in Internal Medicine at Duke University Medical Center and a research fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Harvard Medical School. During his fellowship, he also received a Master’s in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Durant’s research is focused on developing behavioral interventions to improve heart failure self-care among African Americans and reduce disparities in heart failure readmission rates. He also studies multi-level barriers to the recruitment of minorities into clinical trials as possible targets for system-level and behavioral interventions to increase diversity in research study populations. In addition to his research, Dr. Durant serves as Medical Director at Cooper Green Mercy Health Services, a multi-specialty, publicly-funded safety ambulatory care center.