The For Your Health News Podcast explores the issues shaping health and healthcare in communities across the United States. Through conversations with experts, advocates, researchers, policymakers, and community leaders, the podcast breaks down complex health topics, examines barriers to health access, and shares evidence-based insights and solutions that put people first.
In this episode of the For Your Health News Podcast, Dr. Otis Brawley, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University, discusses cancer prevention, screening, and care in underserved communities.
Dr. Brawley reflects on his work with the CEO Roundtable on Cancer and Johns Hopkins University and shares insights from his work with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
The conversation explores how we define the cancer problem, the importance of science-based screening and prevention, and why evidence should guide efforts to detect cancer earlier and improve outcomes.
Dr. Brawley also discusses the state of cancer care in Baltimore and beyond, highlighting the importance of strengthening health access and ensuring communities can benefit from proven approaches to cancer prevention and care.
In This Episode, You’ll Learn: • How Dr. Otis Brawley defines the broader cancer problem • What his work with HBCUs has revealed about cancer and communities • Why science-based screening and prevention are important • How evidence can guide cancer detection and prevention strategies • What cancer care looks like in Baltimore and other underserved communities • Why improving health access is important to cancer prevention and care
Learn more about the CEO Roundtable on Cancer: ceoroundtableoncancer.org
Learn more about NMQF’s Cancer Stage Shifting Initiative: shiftcancer.org
Learn more about the National Minority Quality Forum: nmqf.org
Read more health news: fyh.news
SPEAKER_00
Hello. Welcome to another episode of For Your Health News Podcast. We have Dr. Otis Brawley here. We are so excited to have you as part of this conversation. We would love to learn more about your organization. Why was it important for you to be represented in this conversation?
SPEAKER_01
Well, thank you very much. I'm here representing the CEO Roundtable, and I'm also a professor at Johns Hopkins University. Much of what I've done throughout my career is define what the cancer problem is and define what the problems are in disparities. And the route to overcoming disparities involves a spectrum of prevention, appropriate screening, and appropriate diagnostics, and appropriate treatment. And the way you actually start the uh prevention part of it is through lifestyle change. And we need to work such that people are living a healthy life and doing healthy things at home, at play, and at work. So the CEO roundtable controls a great deal of the at-work part. There's also a part of the CEO round table that's now getting involved with universities, especially with historically black universities. And so we want to try to encourage people to uh teach how to stay healthy and practice how to stay healthy, both at home, at work, and at play.
SPEAKER_00
And tell us how that looks like on the ground and some can you highlight some of the work you're doing with HBCUs?
SPEAKER_01
Uh with HBCUs, there's a lot of uh education. Uh we're meeting with leadership of uh the historically black colleges. We're talking about things like what are you serving in your dormitories? Uh is it lots of high carbohydrate, calorie-dense foods? Uh are we encouraging students to get exercise? Uh and trying to get students to take those messages on to their families. You know, so these are some of the things that we're doing.
SPEAKER_00
And what's the most exciting part about this work right now for you?
SPEAKER_01
The optimism, uh the interest that people actually have in health. Uh uh, one of the things we have to do sometimes is try to make sure that they do things that are very science-based and very efficient. Because, for example, in the in the realm of cancer, everybody talks about screen, screen, screen and doesn't understand there are appropriate screening tests that we really need to do, and they're screening tests that just don't work. And if we spend a lot of time doing things that don't work, we take away from the things that actually do work, and we consume resources that could be put into doing things that would be much more valuable to the population. So the most exciting thing is the optimism, but that leads us with this challenge that we have to continue the work to educate about doing efficient science-based screening, efficient science-based prevention.
SPEAKER_00
Is there an HVCU that you want to highlight that you are like they are they're leading this effort? We can we can choose favorites here on this podcast.
SPEAKER_01
Oh no, no, no. You're not gonna get me to go there. You know, you know, I I've uh a family tradition at Morehouse College, but I am not going to I'm not gonna single out any particular institution.
SPEAKER_00
Okay, we'll take that. Well, since right before you got on here, we talked a lot about your work at Johns Hopkins and also you living in Baltimore. And so what are you seeing this the state, the city of Baltimore doing in supporting healthy outcomes for people who live there?
SPEAKER_01
You know, we have a very dynamic young mayor who's very interested in uh food deserts and food swamps. Uh, one of the things that we could do uh that would help the population as a whole in the United States and especially in Baltimore, if we could get everybody eating five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day, if we could get everybody walking for just 20 to 30 minutes per day for exercise. Uh, and he's trying to trying to promote health. He's got a uh very exciting DC Cancer Coalition that's talking about smoking. Uh and they even have uh they send underage people into various stores to make sure that those underage people cannot buy tobacco products, uh tobacco being the leading cause of cancer in the United States. And of course, uh almost every smoker will tell you that they started smoking at the age of 14 or 15. So keeping tobacco out of the hands of 14, 15, 16-year-olds is preventing people from becoming smokers, and that's going to prevent a lot of death. Remember, smoking is linked to 18 different kinds of cancer.
SPEAKER_00
Wow. I am walking away with that new information today. That might come up in trivia later on. So I'm definitely keeping that in mind. And thank you so much. I I think it's important to highlight the public and private partnerships we're seeing here. You highlighting some of the mayor's work, and of course, the CEO's roundtable on this. So thank you so much for being part of this, and thank you for shouting out Baltimore. It holds a special place in our heart, and I love seeing the great work that's happening there. Thank you for making the time.
