Advisory Committee

Vivian Anugwom is the health equity Manager at Allina Health. She is a trained community health educator with significant experience in healthcare operations and program development. Throughout her career, she has worked with programs that serve patients across the care continuum from diabetes prevention to end-of-life care. In her current role, Anugwom collaborates with leaders at Allina Health to advance health equity by increasing the capacity and capability of leaders and front-line staff to provide culturally responsive care and ultimately eliminate health disparities. Vivian is driven by her passion for building relationships and collaborating with others to improve community health and address the needs of groups disproportionately impacted by inequities.

Eucharia Borden joined Cancer Support Community (CSC) in February 2020. In her role as senior director, Health Equity and Clinical Services, she is responsible for ensuring that CSC research, program, policy, and operations integrate relevant components of health equity, inclusion, and social determinants of health across all activities.  Borden also works with the leadership of the Institute for Excellence in Psychosocial Care to inform the CSC Affiliate Network (including healthcare partners) on best practices in health equity. In addition to focusing on health equity, she is responsible for establishing new headquarters programming and ensuring the highest standard of care for people impacted by a cancer diagnosis. 

Prior to joining CSC, Borden worked for nearly 20 years in direct practice with adults living with chronic illness; 12 of those years included patients in acute inpatient and outpatient hospital oncology settings. Borden holds a clinical social work license in Pennsylvania, where she earned her master’s degree in social work from Temple University. Borden earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a past president of the Association of Oncology Social Work (AOSW) and is recognized as an AOSW Fellow.

Dr. Duma is originally from Venezuela, born of a Colombian mother and Dominican father. She completed her internal medicine residency in Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, and her fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where she was the chief fellow from 2018 -2019.

Dr. Duma is the associate director of the Cancer Care Equity Program and a thoracic medical oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Cancer Center.

Dr. Duma's clinical interests include targeted therapy for lung cancer and the care of women with lung cancer, including their unique aspects of cancer survivorship. She is the principal investigator of the Sexual Health Assessment in Women with Lung Cancer (SHAWL) Study, the largest study to date evaluating sexual dysfunction in women with lung cancer. Apart from her clinical interests in lung cancer, Dr. Duma is also a leading and productive researcher in cancer health disparities, including gender and racial discrimination in medical education and medicine. Dr. Duma in one of the co-founders of the Twitter community #LatinasInMedicine, now composed of more than 6,500 members globally. She has received many awards, including the 2018 Resident of the Year Award from the National Hispanic Medical Association, the Mayo Brothers Distinguished Fellowship award, and the 2020 Rising Star award from the LEAD national conference for women in hematology and oncology.

In 2019, Dr. Duma founded the Duma Lab, which focuses on lung cancer and social justice issues in medicine and medical education. The laboratory’s long-term goals are to create a welcoming environment for medical trainees from historically underrepresented groups in medicine while also improving the care of vulnerable populations.  Dr. Duma’s work has been featured in various media outlets including The New York Times, STAT, Healio, Onclive, ASCO Post and Doximity.

Ysabel Duron is a pioneering, award-winning Latina journalist, a cancer survivor, and, for the past 21 years, a leader in Latino/Hispanic cancer education, advocacy, and research collaboration. In 2017, Duron founded The Latino Cancer Institute (TLCI), a nationwide network dedicated to developing and sharing best practice programs to enhance the work of Latino community service agencies provide collaboration with the global cancer research community and drive policy to address the issues and diminish the burden of Latino cancer. Duron has served on the institutional review board (IRB) for the All of Us Research Program at the NIH since 2016. She is a member of the Advisory Council of the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine (CIAPM), and a board member of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM /Stem Cell Research). One of Duron’s first policy acts was to promote a requirement that scientific applicants for CIRM taxpayer dollars must show an inclusive plan for the engagement of racial/ethnic communities in clinical trials—which now applies to most research. Due to this requirement, reviewers must take these plans into consideration, and patient advocates can award up to ten points for the worthiest proposals. Since then, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) have been wrapped into most of CIRM’s internal and external policies. Duron also serves on CommuniVax: A Coalition to Strengthen the Community’s Involvement in an Equitable Vaccination Rollout, at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. Most recently, CommuniVax recommendations, from its second national report, helped inform President Biden’s rollout of a new, $65 billion 10-year pandemic response plan that specifically calls for the engagement and funding of community-based organizations and community health workers.

Carol Evans joined SHARE Cancer Support as CEO and executive director in 2019. SHARE serves women with breast, ovarian, uterine, and metastatic breast cancer by providing them with helplines in multiple languages, in-person and virtual support groups, education, and peer connections with other survivors. SHARE also reaches out directly to medically underserved communities with programs specifically for them. LatinaSHARE and African American Ambassadors each provide outreach to communities in need. In 2021, SHARE launched Getting Our Fair SHARE at the 2021 Conference to End Health Disparities.

Previously, Evans served as the founder and CEO of Working Mother Media (WMM) (2001-2015), which she founded by acquiring Working Mother magazine. Evans had launched Working Mother in 1978 for a major publishing company, and she led its growth for a decade. In 1986, Evans created the Working Mother 100 Best Companies, which is still the most important benchmark of corporate support for women.

In 2006, Evans expanded WMM’s mission by acquiring Diversity Best Practices and launching the Global Advancement of Women Conferences, which has held events in South Africa, Brazil, Canada, India, and China. She sold WMM to Bonnier Corp in 2008, remaining as president for seven years. In 2015, Evans left Working Mother Media to work on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign as co-founder of Executive Women for Hillary.

Evans’ award-winning book, This is How We Do It: The Working Mother’s Manifesto celebrates working mothers and helps them reframe their most difficult challenges.

Sharon Gentry, MSN, RN, HON-ONN-CG, AOCN, CBCN, is the program director, Academy of Oncology Nurse and Patient Navigators (AONN+) at The Lynx Group in Cranbury, N.J.  She serves as a leader for the AONN+ organization, guiding and directing the organization based on agreed-upon strategic plans, goals, and objectives that the organization—with administrative support from The Lynx Group—intends to achieve in the short term and long-term. Gentry oversees the AONN+ Leadership Council and local navigation networks.

She travels nationally, lecturing on the navigation concept in healthcare, and has published numerous articles and chapters on the subject. Gentry is on the editorial board for the Journal of Oncology Navigation & Survivorship, CONQUER: the patient voice, and The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA.

On the local level, Gentry is a Trellis Supportive Care Board Member and participates in its Professional Advisory Committee, and she is an active member of the North Carolina Piedmont Triad Local Navigation Network and Piedmont Triad Oncology Nursing Society. She obtained her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in nursing from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill and UNC Greensboro, respectively.

The Virginia Mae King Foundation (VMKF) is named after my mother, who died from complications related to dialysis and end stage renal failure. My mother was always a caring and compassionate person, putting others before her own needs. I am so grateful I inherited her spirit by helping people myself. This led to the decision of starting VMKF to help the uninsured and underinsured in underserved communities in need of healthcare services, resources, and consulting for a better quality of life.

As a case manager, patient advocate, patient navigator, consultant, customer service supervisor, medical claims biller, medical claims coder, trainer, and educator, I promote a healthy quality of life for patients by using my 21+ years’ experience working in the healthcare industry. Our foundation helps individuals with chronic health conditions and their caregivers to understand and navigate the challenging healthcare system. We also educate underserved communities, healthcare professionals, medical providers, and businesses with accessing healthcare services to support their patients, clients, and members for better health outcomes. 

Dr. Lailea Noel serves as Assistant Professor and the Meadows Foundation Endowed Fellow in Quality of Life in the Rural Environment at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin. At UT Dell Medical School, she holds faculty appointments in the Department of Oncology and the Department of Health Social Work, co-chairs the Health Equity in Research Workgroup, and serves on the Livestrong Cancer Institutes' Clinical and Prevention Research Workgroup.

Dr. Noel was recently appointed Director of the Institute for Collaborative Health Research and Practice at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. She serves on the Board of Directors for both the Association of Cancer Care Centers and the Association of Oncology Social Workers.

With an extensive background in oncology health administration and non-profit management, her research connects communities most impacted by cancer disparities with cancer care services by exploring how social determinants of health affect psychosocial barriers to care. She specializes in community-based participatory research, engaging communities, social scientists, and medical professionals in collaborative research initiatives.

Dr. Pratt-Chapman is an associate professor of medicine and the associate center director of patient-centered initiatives and health equity for the GW Cancer Center. Her personal mission is to make evidence-based healthcare and disease prevention strategies available to more people as quickly as possible. Her research focuses on patient navigation, cancer survivorship, evidence-based cancer control, and health equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) communities. She has a particular interest in team science and implementation science approaches to increase the relevance of research and accelerate the translation of research findings into practice.

Jeanne M. Regnante, is the chief health equity and diversity officer at the LUNGevity Foundation and chair of the Foundation’s Health Equity Council. Regnante’s primary objective is to secure the engagement and insights of vulnerable lung cancer communities by working with trusted community-based organizations and multiple healthcare stakeholders to achieve health equity and reduce disparities for all.  Previous to this position, Regnante was the senior vice president of the Community Engagement for National Minority Quality Forum, where she launched and chaired the Diverse Cancer Communities Working Group (CWG), which continued to work to optimize cancer care, treatment, and inclusion in clinical trials for racial and ethnic minorities and medically underserved cancer populations. Regnante has enjoyed her 30+ years at Merck & Co., at which she led a company-wide strategy focused on diversity and inclusion in clinical research. Regnante has authored several peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and blogs with stakeholder experts focused on notable practices throughout the cancer care continuum. Regnante was recently honored as a Cancer Health 2021 Change Maker.

Francinna Scott-Jones, ROCC, CPAR, FACCC, is a knowledgeable professional specializing in healthcare revenue cycle. She is the financial coordinator for the Radiation Oncology Department at Northside Hospital Cancer Institute in Atlanta, Ga. For the past 25 years, Scott-Jones has focused her talents on radiation oncology. She has been responsible for the revenue cycle process for freestanding radiation oncology centers and outpatient hospital-based facilities. In a previous role, Scott-Jones served as the billing and reimbursement director of a central business office for a large radiation oncology practice management company. That office was responsible for billing and collections for 24 practices located throughout the U S.

Scott-Jones is passionate about working to mitigate disparities to accessing healthcare. She believes that quality healthcare is a right that should be afforded to all people regardless of their race and/or socioeconomic background. Working with the Association of Cancer Care Centers Financial Advocacy Network aligns Scott-Jones with her goal to make a difference in oncology patients’ lives.

Alison Silberman is the CEO of Stupid Cancer, Inc., a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help empower everyone affected by adolescent and young cancer by ending isolation and building community.  Silberman brings nearly twenty years of public service experience in government and nonprofit institutions to her organization.  With passion and dedication honed from her personal caregiving experience, Alison is committed to ensuring adolescents and young adults affected by cancer are guided and supported throughout their cancer journeys. Prior to joining Stupid Cancer, Alison served as the senior program director at Tuesday’s Children. She has also been the director of field engagement at the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, where she was responsible for increasing the organization’s national presence in the community and for leading advocacy efforts in individual states and on Capitol Hill.  Before that, Silberman worked for the City of New York in Mayor Bloomberg’s Office, where she collaborated with state and local leaders to address the city’s criminal justice policy priorities.  Silberman graduated with a degree in government from Colby College, and she earned a master’s degree in urban planning from Columbia University.  She has been involved in community service for more than a decade as a mentor, team participant, and member of the Young Leaders Cancer Council of LIVESTRONG, and she has been a volunteer coach with Girls on the Run NYC. Silberman lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and two children.

Carla Strom has a master’s degree in international studies and more than 20 years of experience in oncology education, research, health policy, and health disparities. In her current role as senior manager for cancer health equity, she provides oversight and guides operations for the Office of cancer health equity (OCHE) as well as leads grant writing and community capacity building efforts. Strom is also a leader for the Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center’s community outreach and engagement activities and supports cancer center members’ research endeavors.  

In addition to her professional experience, Strom has a personal, cultural, and linguistic connection to the Hispanic community, and she is a two-time young adult cancer survivor herself. Strom serves as a patient advocate in the community and academic oncology setting and has spent more than a decade working with non-profit organizations that support cancer survivors. Strom brings a unique firsthand perspective to her oncology work and contributions to OCHE.

Wendy H. Vogel, MSN, FNP, AOCNP®, is an oncology nurse practitioner from Kingsport, Tennessee.  She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Tennessee Technological University and her Master of Science in Nursing in the Family Nurse Practitioner Program at East Tennessee State University. Ms. Vogel is a board- certified advanced oncology certified nurse practitioner through the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation and a certified family nurse practitioner through the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

As well as being the Executive Director and a founding Board member of APSHO (the Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology), Ms. Vogel is an Associate Editor of JADPRO and has published in several professional journals. She received the 2012 ONS Mary Nowotny Excellence in Cancer Nursing Education Award as well as the American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award for co-editing the Advanced Oncology Nursing Certification Review and Resource Manual: Instructor’s Resource. She has lectured nationally and internationally on oncologic topics and the role of the advanced practitioner.