On March 1, 2024, ACCC elected a new president and board of trustees for the 2024 -2025 term. CANCER BUZZ interviews outgoing President, Lekan Ajayi, and incoming President, Nadine Barrett, about their respective ACCC President’s Themes, the programs and resources ACCC developed in the past year, the state of the oncology workforce, ACCC’s role in improving health equity, the Association’s 50^th Anniversary, and more.

Guest:

Lekan Ajayi

Immediate Past President, Association of Cancer Care Centers

Chief Operating Officer

Highlands Oncology Group, Fayetteville, Arkansas

“[Last year] ACCC set out to rebuild and upskill the workforce to deliver the next generation oncology care...it’s been enlightening, and there's been so much learning that’s been made available…I think through the power of sharing, we can all be better together.”

“The oncology workforce. currently is at a point of inflection really. I think what we know now is that we need to invest to be better…what we've been able to do is create a popular awareness amongst leaders in the industry of the need to invest in the workforce and also to give them tools to be able to do exactly that.”

Nadine Barrett

President, Association of Cancer Care Centers

Professor of Social Science and Health Policy

Senior Associate Dean for Community Engagement and Equity Research

Associate Director of Community Outreach and Engagement

Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity at Wake Forest School of Medicine

“Health equity is part of the core of ACCC, to want to advance equity, to want to think about what health equity and cancer looks like…ACCC is very much committed to recognizing that it takes a national and global community to create the change.”

Resources:

Reimagining Community Engagement and Health Equity in Cancer

Re(Building) the Oncology Workforce to Deliver Next Generation Care

The Importance of Developing Health Equity Initiatives

Social Drivers of Health: The Role or Representation in the Health Care Workforce

A Look at the Emerging Role of Health Equity Institutes

Population Health Navigators: An Innovative Approach for Supporting Underserved Patients