The Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine is pleased to announce that Maranda Witherspoon has agreed to co-lead a group of community members and public health experts who are working to improve cancer prevention and care in medically underserved populations.
As community co-chair of the Disparities Elimination Advisory Committee, she will help shape the efforts of Siteman’s Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities (PECaD). Past and present projects include researching ways to improve breast cancer treatments and increase colorectal cancer screenings, sponsoring continuing education events for physicians and educating the public about preventing cancer.
“Maranda is well-versed in health-care policy and is well-known for her commitment to community. These attributes will serve her well in her new leadership role,” says epidemiologist Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH, associate director of prevention and control at Siteman and academic co-chair of the Disparities Elimination Advisory Committee.
Witherspoon, who has been a member of the committee for four years, will serve up to two years as community co-chair, a part-time volunteer position. She succeeds Mikki Brewster, a breast cancer survivor who served as community co-chair for the past two years.
“I’m excited about building on our past successes, and I look forward to finding new ways to improve quality of life for individuals and the larger community,” Witherspoon says.
A graduate of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Witherspoon earned a master’s degree in public policy and administration. She is a program officer for the Missouri Foundation for Health, the state’s largest health-care foundation.
Other members of the Disparities Elimination Advisory Committee are: Donald Suggs, DDS, founder and owner of the St. Louis American; Lannis Hall, MD, director of radiation oncology at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital; and Sherrill Jackson, a breast cancer survivor and manager of school-based programs at Betty Jean Kerr People’s Health Centers Inc.
For more information, visit http://www.siteman.wustl.edu/pecad.aspx, or contact PECaD at 314-747-4611 or pecad@siteman.wustl.edu.