Chanita Hughes-Halbert, PhD
Chanita Hughes-Halbert, PhD, is the recipient of the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Distinguished Lecture on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities, funded by Susan G. Komen. She was honored during the 11th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved.
The AACR Distinguished Lecture on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities recognizes an investigator whose novel and significant work has had or may have a far-reaching impact on the etiology, detection, diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of cancer health disparities.
Dr. Hughes-Halbert is principal investigator and Director of the Transdisciplinary Collaborative Center in Precision Medicine and Minority Men’s Health at Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). In addition, she is Associate Dean of Assessment, Evaluation, and Quality Improvement, as well as Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at MUSC. She also holds the AT&T Distinguished Endowed Chair for Cancer Equity at the Hollings Cancer Center.
Research Focus
Dr. Hughes-Halbert was recognized for her research aiming to identify sociocultural, psychological, and behavioral determinants of cancer disparities and to translate this evidence into interventions to improve cancer outcomes in medically underserved populations. Within this overarching program, her research focuses on three converging lines of investigation that have high clinical and policy importance: enhancing the participation of minorities in cancer research; developing culturally tailored assessments and interventions to improve cancer outcomes in minorities; and developing a sustainable infrastructure for cancer prevention and control through community-based participatory research methods.
Notably, her research has defined the field of genetic counseling and testing for inherited breast cancer risk in African American women and was the first to examine acceptance rates and outcomes of genetic counseling and testing for BRCA1/2 mutations among African American women. Her research in genetic counseling and testing provided a model of culturally tailored strategies for cancer prevention and control among racial minorities.
More recently, Dr. Hughes-Halbert has conducted translational research to understand the complex ways in which sociocultural, psychological, behavioral, genetic, and clinical factors interact to produce racial and ethnic disparities in health care and disease outcomes among minority men. Her evolving research in this area has demonstrated that willingness to participate in precision medicine studies is limited among African Americans, despite having positive expectations about the benefits of personalized medicine. ■
