Health Equity Explorers Visit Graham Cancer Center

June 15, 2023

On a sunny Saturday, 25 local high school students gathered at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute for an insider’s look at health care. The Health Equity Explorers Program gives high school students from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine a day to hear from experts, conduct hands-on activities in training labs, tour clinical areas and meet older students, clinicians and scientists at various stages of their careers.

The program was hosted by the Graham Cancer Center in collaboration with ChristianaCare’s Office of Health Equity and iREACH’s Harrington Trust, and sponsored by a grant from Hologic. The students left gifts for cancer survivors – hand-decorated rocks with inspirational messages.

Among the experiences:

Dawn Leonard, M.D., chief of the Division of Breast Surgery, talked with the Explorers about her career path and careers in health care.
Leading the way for the Explorers: Marshala Lee-McCall, M.D., MPH; Nora Katurakes, MSN, RN, OCN; and Nicholas Petrelli, M.D.
Jacqueline Ortiz, MPhil, vice president for Health Equity and Cultural Competence, emphasized the importance of accessible health care in a patient’s native language to good health.
Kelly Banas, Ph.D., of ChristianaCare’s Gene Editing Institute, shared her career path to research science.
Charles Mulligan, M.D., chief of Thoracic Surgery, shared the path that research and technology take to become innovative cancer treatments.
Jennifer Sims-Mourtada, Ph.D. (back right), with graduate students, welcomed the Explorers to The Cawley Center for Translational Cancer Research.

Click here for more information on cancer care and research at ChristianaCare.

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