Fall 2021 West Cancer Foundation

In Fall 2020, the University of Memphis (UofM) Division of Research & Innovation introduced the West Cancer Foundation Initiative in partnership with West Cancer Foundation and the University’s Office of Advancement. The West Cancer Foundation Initiative was created to cultivate research across the UofM campus in areas that advance cancer treatment, promote community health and wellness, and/or provide supportive patient care. All interested researchers/research teams are encouraged to involve research partners from area community organizations and/or other regional institutions as deemed appropriate to the selected theme. 

Fall 2021 Winning UofM faculty:

Dr. Joy V. Goldsmith (Communication and Film) for “A Module to Optimize Oncology Caregiver Health Literacy.” The priority research area for this project is Health Equity; awarded $9,000. 

Dr. Seok Won Jin (Social Work and Nursing) for “Human Papillomavirus Ambassadors In Memphis (HPV AIM) Program for Increasing HPV Vaccination in the Mid-South.” The priority research area for this project is Health Equity, and Community Outreach, including uninsured/underinsured and HPV; awarded $10,000.

Dr. Xiaolei Huang (Computer Science) for "Causal Modeling of Human Confounding Bias in Patient-reported Outcome Assessment." The priority research area for this project is Health Equity; awarded $10,000.

Dr. Carl Herickhoff (Biomedical Engineering) for "Reducing Disparity in Breast Cancer Outcomes with Free Automated 3D Ultrasound Scans." The priority research area for this project is closing the disparity gap in breast cancer screening; awarded $10,000.

Dr. Muhammad Shah Jahan (Physics) for “Freeing the Radicals: Enabling patients to better understand the care they need, through knowledge of free radicals and their relation to cancer.” The priority research area for this project is Health Equity; awarded $10,000.

All winners will participate in a symposium to share the results of their work in the Fall 2022.