You may notice a familiar face on cover of the June 10th issue of HemOnc Today Magazine. The cover story -- "An effort to recruit more minorities for clinical trials becomes a 'national priority'" -- features a photo and interview of DGIM's own Leah Zullig, PhD. Dr. Zullig co-authored a recent guest editorial with colleagues Christina Williams, PhD (Duke Medical Oncology), and William Carpenter, PhD (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) in the Annals of Translational Medicine. Their commentary addressed the need for inclusion of minorities and other traditionally underrepresented groups in cancer clinical trials. The authors explained how patients are missing out on cutting-edge treatments because of the low participation rate in clinical trials, especially in among ethnic and racial minorities, even though the incidence of certain cancers is higher and outcomes traditionally are poorer for these groups.
Read the full article online here.
Dr. Zullig is a health services researcher and investigator at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Her research is supported by a VA HSR&D Career Development Award, focused on improving colorectal cancer survivors’ care quality through a self-management intervention bridging cancer surveillance and chronic disease management. Dr. Zullig’s overarching research interests address the reduction of healthcare disparities, developing cancer care quality monitoring systems, and promoting patient chronic disease self-management. She has authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications. Read more about her in this faculty spotlight.