Pebbles Fagan, PhD, MPH
Pebbles Fagan, PhD, MPH, has assumed the role of Associate Director for Cancer Prevention and Control for the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).
Dr. Fagan, an expert on tobacco-related health disparities and co-founder of the National Cancer Institute (NCI)’s Tobacco Research Network on Disparities, will lead new and existing cancer prevention and control activities for the Cancer Institute.
“Dr. Fagan is a nationally recognized cancer researcher and has studied cancer health disparities for decades,” said Michael Birrer, MD, PhD, Director of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. “She is passionate about social justice and will be a tremendous leader as we work to address the needs of Arkansas communities hit disproportionately hard by cancer.”
A Leader in Disparities Research, Tobacco Control
Dr. Fagan is a Professor in the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health at UAMS and Director of the UAMS Center for the Study of Tobacco. She is Director of Research in the UAMS Office of Health Initiatives and Disparities Research.
Dr. Fagan also leads the NIH Center for Research, Health and Social Justice at UAMS. The center is funded by an $18.9 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to support new research and interventions to reduce cancer among people who live in rural areas and African American populations across Arkansas.
Dr. Fagan previously served as Program Director for the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center and as a Health Scientist in the NCI’s Tobacco Control Research Branch.
Dr. Fagan is the recipient of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco’s 2021 President’s Award and the 2022 David Bourne Leading Light Award from the Arkansas Cancer Coalition. A graduate of the University of Virginia, she earned a Master of Public Health degree from Tulane University and a doctorate in health education and community health from Texas A&M University. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
