Honoring Black Excellence
Greetings,
As we commemorate Black History Month, we want to pay tribute to the outstanding contributions made by this community, which have helped advance society as a whole. As leaders of the NCI Equity and Inclusion Program (EIP), we understand that as we celebrate this occasion, we must also recognize the very real structural barriers in housing, education, health care, and more that have contributed to the ongoing oppression, racism, and silencing of this community.
In alignment with this year’s theme, “Black Excellence in Health and Science,” it is our honor to recognize our late friends and colleagues, Drs. Worta McCaskill-Stevens and Edith P. Mitchell.
Over the course of her career, Dr. McCaskill-Stevens was director of the NCI Community Oncology Research Program and led NCI’s Community Oncology and Prevention Trials Research Group. She made important contributions to breast cancer screening and prevention research, including the design and launch of a clinical trial that enrolled nearly 20,000 postmenopausal women at increased risk for breast cancer. In addition, Dr. McCaskill-Stevens was a steadfast champion of increasing diversity in cancer research and improving health outcomes for underserved communities.
Dr. Mitchell, another brilliant Black female researcher and model of Black excellence, a physician and teacher, was well known for her efforts to increase diversity in the cancer research workforce and clinical trials, and by reducing barriers to better cancer screening, and care in underserved communities. Dr. Mitchell impacted so many individuals in the cancer community, providing guidance and leadership on cancer health disparities research and supporting the early career development of underrepresented students in the many groups and committees of which she was a member.
Although the recent passing's of these two remarkable women and researchers can be felt across the cancer research and health disparity communities, we will continue to honor their legacies by maintaining our commitment to improving access and eliminating barriers.
To continue learning about Black history, we want to call attention to activities taking place at NIH and invite you to listen, learn, and participate as you are available:
As we honor Black excellence this Black History Month, we reaffirm our stance of intolerance toward bigotry, hatred, and violence in all of its forms and assure the Black community at NCI and around the world that NCI will always be your ally.
Sincerely,
Kimryn Rathmell, M.D., Ph.D., (she/her) and Paulette Gray, Ph.D., (she/her)
Co-chairs of the NCI Equity Council
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