Scientific Advisory Council

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As new standards of cancer care are being implemented nationwide and our health care system is changing, Triage Cancer hopes to be in the forefront of educating health care providers, and the cancer community in general, so that they can best utilize the valuable tools and resources that are available for their constituencies.

Triage Cancer collaborates with experts in the areas of medicine, mental health, nursing, social work, patient navigation, nutrition, oncofertility, law, employment, education, financial management, insurance, relationships, sexuality and intimacy, pain and palliative care, advocacy, and other areas of cancer survivorship.

The Triage Cancer Scientific Advisory Council provides guidance on substantive areas of cancer survivorship so that we may best serve the cancer community.

Members

Photo of Jean Edward PhD, RN, CHPE

Jean Edward, PhD, RN, CHPE

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at the College of Nursing, University of Kentucky HealthCare's Markey Cancer Center

Biography

Triage Cancer Scientific Advisory Council Member Jean Edward, is an Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at the College of Nursing, and Nurse Scientist for the University of Kentucky HealthCare's Markey Cancer Center.

Dr. Edward's program of research is focused on promoting equity in health care access, affordability, and health outcomes for underserved communities by intervening on the social determinants of health. She utilizes mixed methods and implementation science approaches to design and implements sustainable multi-level (patient-, provider- systems-, and community-level) interventions that promote equity in access to and affordability of care.

Her prior work has focused on establishing the impact of social determinants of health, such as health insurance literacy and socioeconomic factors, on access to care for underserved Hispanic/Latino and rural, Appalachian communities. Her current program of research is focused on improving health and financial outcomes of cancer survivors and caregivers by focusing on implementing sustainable financial and legal assistance programs within health systems to help alleviate financial toxicity and hardship. She was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to implement FINassist (Financial and Insurance Navigation Assistance)- an interdisciplinary program that enhances cost of care conversations in health care settings to help address financial and legal needs of patients and families with childhood cancers and hematologic disorders. She also led a National Cancer Institute-funded P30 administrative supplement to implement CC Links (Coverage and Cost-of-Care Links) – a novel, interdisciplinary financial navigation intervention for hematologic cancer survivors and their caregivers.

Dr. Edward has been funded by the National Cancer Institute, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, American Cancer Society, Kentucky Nurses Association, and Sigma Theta Tau International. She has received several recognitions, including the American Public Health Association's Public Health Nursing Junior Investigator Award. Her work has been published in over 40 peer-reviewed publications and presented at over 60 national, regional, and local conferences. She is the Associate Editor of Clinical Nursing Research, Chair of the American Public Health Association Cancer Forum’s Program Planning Committee, and steering-committee member of Health Literacy Kentucky. She is a member of the American Public Health Association, American Nurses Association, Kentucky Nurses Association, and Sigma Theta Tau International Scholarly Nursing Society.

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