National expert to speak on improving access to quality cancer care
February 17, 2025
Noted oncology expert Dr. Karen Winkfield will discuss innovative strategies to improve access to quality cancer care for all communities at UC Irvine on Feb. 27-28.
Irvine, Calif. — The UCI Health Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center invites you to attend the 2025 Allen and Lee-Hwa Chao Lecture in Cancer Research on Feb. 27 and Feb. 28 to hear the latest strategies to provide all communities access to quality cancer care.
Each year, the annual Allen and Lee-Hwa Chao Lecture presents a trailblazer in cancer research. This year's distinguished honoree is Karen M. Winkfield, MD, PhD, a national thought leader and powerhouse in the fight for cancer equity.
Winkfield will share her expertise in community outreach and empowerment at the free, public lectures, which will be held on the UC Irvine campus.
As the Ingram Professor of Cancer Research at Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center, professor of medicine at Meharry Medical College and executive director of the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance, Winkfield is on the frontlines of transforming cancer care. Her innovative work focuses on creating impactful community engagement in research as well as initiatives to improve access to care, especially to clinical trials.
Her leadership also extends far beyond the clinic and classroom. Elected to the board of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and appointed to the National Cancer Advisory Board, the radiation oncologist is a tireless advocate for improving health outcomes in underserved populations by developing education tools and programs to break down barriers to cancer care while also addressing the sociocultural and economic disparities that drive them.
As the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center based in Orange County, the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is charged with reaching out to underserved patient populations through its Office of Community Outreach and Engagement (COE). In recent years, those efforts have demonstrably increased access among Orange County's many underserved racial and ethnic communities, including participation in clinical trials.
Please register now to join us for Winkfield's presentations:
Community lecture: "Trust and the National Cancer Plan: Empowering our community"
Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025
Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences & Engineering
5 p.m. reception | 6 p.m. lecture
Register now ›
Scientific lecture: "Implementing COE Strategies: Enhancing a Cancer Center’s Impact in the Community"
Friday, Feb. 28, 2025
Gross Hall Thorp Conference Center
10 a.m. lecture | lunch to follow
Register now ›
Please contact cfcccadmin@hs.uci.edu, if you have questions or need further information.
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About UCI Health
UCI Health, one of California’s largest academic health systems, is the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine. The system comprises its main campus UCI Medical Center, a 459-bed, acute care hospital in Orange, Calif., four hospitals and affiliated physicians of the UCI Health Community Network in Orange and Los Angeles counties and ambulatory care centers across the region. Recognized as a Top Hospital by The Leapfrog Group, UCI Medical Center provides tertiary and quaternary care and is home to Orange County’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center, gold level 1 geriatric emergency department and regional burn center. UCI Health serves a region of nearly 4 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
About UCI Health — Irvine
UCI Health — Irvine, a new medical complex at the north end of the UC Irvine campus, is bringing unparalleled expertise and the finest evidence-based care that only an academic health system can offer to the communities of coastal and south Orange County. As part of UCI Health — which includes the flagship UCI Medical Center in Orange, Orange County’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and multiple outpatient care locations — the new 1.2 million-square-foot campus will offer key clinical programs in oncology, digestive health, neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics and spine surgery. The nation’s first medical center powered by an all-electric central utilities plant, UCI Health — Irvine is home to the Joe C. Wen & Family Center for Advanced Care, a five-story, 168,000-square-foot medical facility offering multidisciplinary specialty care for children and adults, urgent care services, the Center for Children’s Health and the UCI Health Center for Autism & Neurodevelopmental Disorders, and the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Ambulatory Care building, a five-story, 225,000-square-foot structure. Coming in 2025: a seven-story, 350,000-square-foot, acute care hospital and emergency department.
