March 15, 2018

Family medicine faculty member named Physician Director for for Community Outreach, Engagement and Health Disparities (COEHD) at U-M Cancer Center

HPV specialist and family medicine professor Diane Harper, M.D., M.P.H., M.S., will lead community outreach efforts at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center

 

Diane Harper, MD, MPH, MS

This month, Diane Harper, M.D., M.P.H., M.S. professor of family medicine, accepted the position as Physician Director for Community Outreach, Engagement and Health Disparities (COEHD) at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. Harper is an internationally recognized clinical research expert in HPV-associated diseases, including prevention, screening and early detection. She has been a consultant with the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization to advise on global guidelines and set up screening and prevention operations in low- and middle-income countries to prevent cervical cancer. She has also served on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which makes evidence-based recommendations about clinical preventive services such as screenings.

Harper was the chair of Family and Geriatric Medicine at the University of Louisville prior to joining Michigan Medicine earlier this year.

Harper will work closely with Ken Resnicow, Ph.D., the Cancer Center’s associate director for Community Outreach, Engagement and Health Disparities, serving a critical role in overseeing community engagement activities and providing direction to the community outreach program.

In this role, she will lead the establishment of a community outreach engagement committee to build relationships with the community and seek input from community leaders. She will also lead community-based outreach initiatives to address cancer-specific health-related risk factors and engage the community in cancer-relevant health disparities research. She will develop and maintain community partnerships focused on cancer prevention and detection.

 


 

Browse the latest research on cancer and prevention screenings from the department of family medicine.