I-REACH Members

Cancer Health Disparities, Cancer Prevention and Control, Epidemiology, Global Oncology. Dr. Lucile Adams-Campbell’s research focuses on minority aging over the life course and how aging and cancer interact to affect cancer disparities and the health of older minority cancer survivors.

Bioinformatics,Biostatistics, Genetic Epidemiology, Glycoscience. Dr. Ahn’s research explores cognitive aging of breast cancer survivors, clinical trials and machine learning to evaluate aging outcomes.

Health Disparities, Cancer Prevention and Control. Dr. Bethea’s research focuses on environmental stressors underlying cancer health disparities and minority aging, and how sleep interventions can improve outcomes.

Dr. Bower is a nationally recognized expert on biobehavioral processes in cancer patients and survivors and their impact on health and well-being. Her research examines links between behavioral and biological processes in breast cancer survivors, including fatigue, depression, and cognitive disturbance.

Dr. Brundage is a professor in the Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences Department at George Washington University. She joined the Georgetown Breast Cancer Advocates (GBCA) in 2009 to share her skills in order to advocate for excellence in breast cancer research and education.

Ms. Roberta Carlin, served as the Executive Director of the American Association on Health and Disability (AAHD) for 21 years, prior to retiring in June 2023.  Ms. Carlin holds a JD and MS degree.  She is a breast cancer and appendix cancer survivor and joined the Georgetown Breast Cancer Advocate Group (GBCA) in 2018 to continue in her role as an advocate for breast cancer research.

Dr. Carroll’s work focuses on examining multi-level determinants of aging, integrating knowledge about biological aging processes and health behaviors, and understanding the bidirectional relationship of these factors and diseases like cancer on physical and cognitive outcomes.

Dr. Cole has focused on investigating molecular pathways by which social and environmental factors influence the activity of human, viral, and tumor genomes, combining many research methods such as computational modeling, clinical natural history studies, laboratory animal models, and molecular genetics studies.

Cancer Biomarkers, Cancer Disparities, Epidemiology, Training. Dr. Dash’s research primarily focuses on molecular epidemiology and cancer prevention and control in minorities and underserved populations.

Dr. Dorgan’s research focuses on hormonal determinants of cancer, particularly breast cancer, and how diet, physical activity and genetics influence risk through hormonal pathways. 

Dr. Ganz is a Distinguished Professor of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology) and Health Policy & Management. She has been a leader in the integration of quality-of-life assessment in clinical trials, and her own investigator-initiated research has been a mixture of observational and intervention research, with a focus on physical and behavioral outcomes in cancer patients and survivors, including parallel studies examining the medical and health outcomes.

Dr. Irwin is a Norman Cousins Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Science. His ongoing work is focused on the reciprocal interactions between the immune and central nervous systems, and the role of sleep disturbance on the molecular and cellular inflammatory signaling pathways that influence depression and physical health risk.

Dr. Knott’s health disparities research involves community-based health communication studies, and the role of culture in health cognitions and behaviors. She aims where aims to find ways to increase use of evidence-based interventions in cancer control, primarily working through faith-based organizations.

Dr. Magaziner is the leader of University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Center for Research on Aging and is principal investigator of the UM-OAIC (Pepper Center). His research is mainly directed at identifying disability due to common age-related diseases and conditions like falls and hip fracture and developing and evaluating the effects of interventions to improve functional ability.

Cancer and Aging, Geriatrics, Survivorship, Policy, Cancer Disparities. Dr. Mandelblatt’s research focuses on heterogeneity in life course aging and the effects of cancer and its treatments on clinically important survivorship outcomes, including functional, cognitive, and physical aging and development of frailty.

Dr. Rentscher is a clinical and health psychologist with a specific interest in the biological mechanisms that link experiences of social and health-related adversity to accelerated aging and age-related disease. She is also investigating close relationship processes that may serve as protective buffers against the deleterious effects of adversity on health.

Dr. Ryan studies of the role of deconditioning, obesity, inflammation and muscle atrophy in aging and disability conditions (cancer, obesity, stroke, HIV), the mechanisms underlying the functional, clinical, and metabolic abnormalities, and translating these findings into intervention trials.

Cancer, Health Disparities, Population Research, Epidemiology. Dr. Schwartz’s research has focused on familial aggregation of lung cancer, inflammation and lung cancer risk, and racial disparities in prostate cancer aggressiveness.

Ms. Stahl is a retired attorney and breast cancer survivor.  She joined the Georgetown Breast Cancer Advocates (GBCA) as a founding member in 2011.  She serves as a research advocate helping to direct research so that it is relevant and impactful.

Cardiovascular Disease, Clinical Pharmacology, Environmental Toxicology, Health Disparities, Nephrology, Pathophysiology. Dr. Uman’s research spans several disciplines, including translational physiology and pharmacology, women’s health, chronic diseases in aging, and community-engaged studies on health disparities and leads mentorship training.

Dr. Van Dyk’s research focuses on cognitive impairment in both brain tumor and non-CNS cancers, including: determining appropriate assessment methods for effectively and accurately understanding cognitive symptoms in cancer survivors, determining risk factors for cancer-related cognitive impairment, exposing mechanisms of biological and neural vulnerability for these symptoms, and developing effective intervention strategies to prevent impairment and improve functioning.

Behavioral Science, Tobacco Control, Disparities. Dr. Williams’ research focuses on testing methods for smoking cessation in the lung screening setting and addresses cancer disparities affecting African Americans.