Executive Director YaVonne Vaughan Quoted in Washington Business Journal Article 

November 30, 2012 

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ABC 7-TV 

Greta Kreuz

A new report shows that the cancer death rate among African Americans in Washington, D.C. exceeds the national rate.

Stephen Jefferson, 46, has fibrosis of the lungs, one of many complications of his cancer. The southeast D.C. resident was diagnosed in 2009 with stage four hodgkins lymphoma.

“I was one of the dumb ones and I say that and it’s true because I didn’t go get a physical, didn’t go get screened, didn’t go get checked,” he says.

That all plays a big role in the sharp cancer disparity between blacks and whites in the District.

Blacks in the District are 54-percent more likely to get cancer than whites, much higher than the 4-percent difference nationwide. Blacks in D.C. are 90-percent more likely to die of cancer, almost five times the national rate. Read more...

East of the River  Capital Community News July 2012 

Colorectal Cancer in DC: A War That Can Be Won 

Candace Y.A. Montague

In order to combat the rising colorectal cancer rates, the community must take a deeper look within and fund life-saving programs. Read more...

Washington Business Journal Guest Commentary

YaVonne Vaughan

City Needs Cancer Control Fund

May 3, 2012

It’s no secret that a healthy community helps business thrive. But in the District, the “elephant in the room” remains our community’s collective foot-dragging over aggressive, collaborative steps to ease the burden of cancer, particularly among the medically underserved. Read more...

The Wall Street Journal  

CANCER CARE GRAND ROUNDS: A new study suggests higher oncology spending is 'worth it'

April 17, 2012

A persistent health-care myth is that the U.S. system is uniquely wasteful versus the European countries that spend far less per patient as a result of tight government control. Only the establishment experts who spread this myth will be surprised, but new research shows American patients are often getting more value—better outcomes and longer lives—in return for those extra dollars.

More remarkable still, the news arrives via the policy journal Health Affairs, in a symposium on the cost and quality of U.S. cancer care. This is like the Vatican saying go ahead, worship the graven images and false idols.

Tomas Philipson of the University of Chicago and colleagues compare U.S. oncology spending over the period from 1983 to 1999 (the last year for which data areavailable) with that in 10 European Union countries. Costs were lower overall overseas and grew by 16%, while they grew by 49% in the U.S. Read more...

The Washington Post  Letter to the Editor 

YaVonne Vaughan 

The City Needs to Spend More Money on Cancer Fight 

February 15, 2012

News of the District’s revised budget projection touched off a great debate about what to do with the new found surplus of $240 million [ “Gray sets economic priorities in speech,” Metro, Feb. 8]. Returning some of it to taxpayers, as some have suggested, makes perfect sense based on the faulty assumptions about a budget shortfall that triggered the recent tax increase. Read more..

East of the River  Capital Community News February 2012

Candace Y.A. Montague

This is the final installation in the three part series on cancer.  In this part, we look at the plans that were made to help decrease tobacco use in the District and the roadblocks that have delayed these efforts.

Herman Bunch is a busy man. He coaches football and baseball.  He organizes family reunions.  He travels with his wife and two daughters. So what’s his vice? He smokes one pack of cigarettes a day, give or take a few.  Herman knows first hand that it’s unhealthy to smoke. He watched his father die of lung cancer in 1996. And yet, cigarettes remain a part of his daily routine. Read more...

East of the River  Capital Community News January 2012

Candace Y.A. Montague

In this second of a three part series on cancer, we take a look at breast cancer and the impact it has on women’s lives in the District.

Cassandra Vessel is a lively, genuine, benevolent woman whose laugh can be heard blocks away. However, when it comes to discussing her experience with breast cancer she goes from jovial to frustrated.  Cassandra was diagnosed in 2010 after discovering a lump in her breast. Her mother had breast cancer surgery two years prior so she had an inkling as to what it was. What she didn’t anticipate was the time she would have to stop working as a home health aide to go through four surgeries, eight weeks of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation. Read more...

East of the River  Capital Community News December 2011

Candace Y.A. Montague

This is the first entry of a three-part series on cancer that will look at the barriers and innovations that affect the rates in DC.

Clifford Willis got the news he really didn’t want to hear in November 2010. He had been a relatively healthy man all his life.  He knew his family’s health history and he got checkups accordingly. So when his urologist confirmed that had prostate cancer, Willis tuned completely out.  “I didn’t hear anything else after that quite frankly.  I sorta stared at the wall for a minute. I didn’t fall apart but it wasn’t what I wanted to hear.” Clifford Willis, then 53 years old, had two options for dealing with his diagnosis.  He could face it head on with medical assistance or simply ignore it and wait to die.  Read more...

The Washington Afro-American

Valencia Muhammad

October 12, 2011

Read the full article...

J9 Music Life Blog

November 3, 2011

Philanthropy News Digest

October 23, 2011

Read full article...

Northwest Current

July 6, 2011

Read the article on page 5.

East of the River  Capital Community News July 2010

Alice Ollstein

When Stephen Jefferson went to the hospital two years ago complaining of a swollen foot, doctors discovered, among other health problems, a tumor the size of a melon in his stomach. After many painful surgeries, chemotherapy treatments, and battles with Medicaid and Social Security, Jefferson has become an advocate for cancer patients, and volunteers with the DC Cancer Consortium to make sure others in his community do not make the mistakes he made.   Jefferson lives in Southeast DC, which has some of the highest cancer and cancer mortality rates in the city—especially breast cancer, colorectal cancer and prostate cancer. There are many clinics, but no full hospitals that offer comprehensive cancer treatment. Read more…

Street Sense

July 6, 2011

Hannah Traverse

A cancer diagnosis is never welcome. And for poor cancer patients, often uninsured or underinsured, feeling sick is the least of their worries. Read more...

(May 9, 2013) The DC Cancer Consortium kicked off DC Goes Pink, an initiative in the DC Metro area to fight breast cancer, at the Prince Hall Masonic Temple in Washington, DC. DC has the highest breast cancer death rates in the country.

DC Mayor Vincent Grey launched the initiative at the event by presenting the DC Cancer Consortium with a proclamation declaring May “DC Goes Pink” month. Screening events with partners United Medical Center and the George Washington Mammovan will be held throughout the year.

Speakers at the kickoff reception included Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh, DC Goes Pink Honorary Chairperson J.C. Hayward and breast cancer survivors Thelma D Jones and Natalie Williams.

The event focused on the importance of community involvement in reducing and eventually eradicating breast cancer from the District. Councilwoman Mary Cheh said “it takes a village to fight cancer,” emphasizing the importance of engaging and educating through grassroots efforts.

“To help women alleviate cancer in minority and low-income communities, we must communicate and join hands to be their strength and their foundation” said J.C. Hayward. The “DC Cancer Consortium is going to save lives and that is so very important.”

DC Department of Health Senior Deputy Director Beverly Kelly and Acting Chief of the Bureau of Cancer and Chronic Disease Amari Pearson-Fields shared the grim cancer statistics in the District and the Department’s efforts in working with the DC Cancer Consortium to reduce cancer disparities in medically underserved areas.

Businesses in the U Street area of Northwest DC and Minnesota Avenue, NE posted flyers showing their support for DC Goes Pink and the fight against breast cancer. 

(April 8, 2013) Mayor Vincent Gray has declared May 2013 as “DC Goes Pink Month.”

The DC Cancer Consortium will be hosting “DC Goes Pink Month,” as well as a series of events throughout the year with the DC Department of Health, to increase cancer awareness and promote cancer screening activities in Washington, DC.

The DC Cancer Consortium will kick off DC Goes Pink with a reception on May 9^th at the Prince Hall Center for the Performing Arts, located at 1000 U St NW, Washington, DC 20001. The reception will take place from 6 PM to 9 PM.

DC leads the nation in cancer mortality rates. DC ranks #1 in breast cancer mortality; #1 in prostate cancer mortality and #1 in colorectal cancer mortality. Minorities and the medically underserved are disproportionately affected.

“Everyone must understand that because the District has the nation’s highest mortality rates in many cancers, all of our citizens must engage in a personal and collective fight against cancer, says DC Cancer Consortium Executive Director YaVonne Vaughan. “DC Goes Pink is part of our aggressive effort to highlight the alarming cancer death rates in DC.”

Come help the DC Cancer Consortium kick of its DC Goes Pink initiative.

(Oct. 23, 2012) A new report commissioned by the DC Cancer Consortium shows the cancer death rate among blacks in DC exceeds the national rate.  The report finds that African Americans develop cancer at the same rate as blacks across the country, but they are 90 percent more likely to die from cancer in the District of Columbia. The RAND Health report, “Monitoring Cancer Outcomes Across the Continuum: Data Synthesis and Analysis for the District of Columbia,” points to the need to close gaps in diagnostic follow-up for blacks in the District and to learn more about the timing and type of treatment received. The report also identifies data gaps that prevent analysis of the cancer burden for a growing number of Hispanics in the District. 

The leadership of DC Cancer Consortium says the report points to a need for improved health sector awareness and greater funding to address the dramatic disparity in cancer death rates.  The report should serve as a benchmark for efforts to strengthen control cancer efforts in the District.

“The District must invest consistent resources to save the lives and lift the cancer burden for its minority and poor residents who are diagnosed with cancer.  While the city has near-universal insurance coverage, this report shows clearly that there are factors driving cancer rates higher for certain populations. We have identified some of those factors. We developed the DC Cancer Control Plan to address those factors. But it takes funding to carry out the cancer plan,” said Dr. John Lynch, chairman of the Consortium and bioethics consultant at the Washington Cancer Institute at Washington Hospital Center.  

DCCC Executive Director YaVonne Vaughan echoed that concern, saying the city made an initial investment in the cancer plan, but so far has failed to follow through with sustained funding.  She says the new report shows there is a need for staying the course. “It is short-sighted for our community not to continue funding the DC Cancer Control Plan.  We need dedicated cancer control funding of at least $8 million annually. The District collects nearly $70 million in cigarette taxes and related revenues each year from a bad habit that’s just contributing to our health crisis. But we’re spending almost nothing to stop it.”

Dr. James Cobey, president of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia and Consortium board member, said there is evidence cancer control works.  “We have seen what funding programs like colorectal cancer screening and cancer patient navigation can do. We have made progress in the past five years with these programs. Colorectal cancer incidence fell 10 percent overall in the District during a time we focused on preventable cancers by funding DC Screen for Life. But that program now has no funding to continue.”

Cancer survivors say awareness, education and screening are the keys to reaching minorities and other groups at risk for cancer.  “Community-based organizations must be empowered to reach people with life-saving information,” said Thelma Jones, a breast cancer survivor and cancer patient navigator.

Stephen Jefferson, a resident of Ward 7, where the cancer death rate is disproportionately high, says information is power for anyone diagnosed with cancer.  “I had Stage IV Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer when I showed up in the emergency room with severe swelling of my feet.  I am still here today because I am blessed, first, but also because I received information about a clinical trial from the DC Cancer Consortium.”  

DC Cancer Consortium is launching a public service announcement and media campaign in late October to help raise awareness about cancer in the city as part of an effort to advance the goals of the DC Cancer Control Plan.  For additional multimedia content, visit our YouTube DC Cancer Consortium Channel.

(February 27, 2013) Responding to an American Cancer Society report that cancer is the leading cause of death among Hispanics in the United States, DC Cancer Consortium is launching an initiative designed to increase awareness of cancer and prevent death from the disease among the Hispanic population in the Washington metropolitan area.

Called LATINO, which stands for “Let’s Act Together in New Opportunities,” the new initiative will kick off at a reception, on Wednesday, March 27, from 6-8 pm, at the GALA Hispanic Theater, located in the Columbia Heights area of Washington.

“LATINO is an initiative that will move us closer to realizing our mission to ease the burden of cancer among low-income and medically underserved populations in the DC metro area,” said YaVonne Vaughan, executive director of the Consortium.

The kick-off event will feature remarks by Dr. Elmer Huerta, a renowned oncologist and director of the Cancer Preventorium at Washington Cancer Institute, MedStar Washington Hospital Center. Dr. Huerta founded the prevention and screening clinic in 1994 and continues to use it as a vehicle for reaching the Hispanic/Latino community in the Washington area. His involvement with the Spanish-speaking community began more than 20 years ago, when he began his nationally and internationally broadcast radio and television health programs. Dr. Huerta remains directly involved in cancer research and is currently the principal investigator for the Latin American Cancer Research Coalition, a National Cancer Institute funded program.

As part of the initiative, the Consortium formed the LATINO Advisory Council, comprised of community leaders from health care, business and media, to spearhead a program of outreach activities. Plans call for the initiative to provide healthy food access and preparation guidance, cancer screening mobile apps, community forums, and a cancer support referral network of existing Hispanic community-based agencies.

The launch of the LATINO initiative coincides with the observance of Colon Cancer Awareness Month. Health experts say colon cancer is among the most preventable of all leading cancers in the DC area. 

 (YouTube DC Cancer Consortium Channel) 

(WASHINGTON ‒ May 11, 2012) – DC Cancer Consortium (DCCC) received a $100,000 grant award today from Pfizer to support a comprehensive outreach and awareness initiative for the 2011-2016 DC Cancer Control Plan. The grant will assist DCCC in reducing overall cancer incidence and mortality by improving access to care in the District of Columbia.

“This grant funding will help us to continue our focus on lowering the high cancer rates among the medically underserved in the District by educating the public about two of our signature programs, Citywide Patient Navigation Network (CPNN) and DC Cancer Answers^SM 202-585-3210. These programs ensure that access to care and early detection for the medically underserved are more than empty promises,” said Dr. John Lynch, board chairman of the Consortium.

CPNN helps cancer patients overcome barriers to timely and appropriate care as they transition between health care institutions and support services.  A total of $3.4 million has been awarded by DCCC to the CPNN program, administered by The George Washington Cancer Institute, since it launched in September 2010. The network is comprised of 34 patient navigators at 44 partner sites. So far, more than 9,000 cancer patients and residents have received cancer patient navigation and cancer awareness services as part of the program. The Consortium also connects cancer patients and caregivers to CPNN through the DC Cancer Answers^SM program, which is administered in partnership with the American Cancer Society.

The DC Cancer Control Plan is a five-year proposal of strategies designed to reduce the number of new cases of cancer, decrease cancer death rates, and improve the quality of life for cancer survivors in the Nation’s Capital. The plan guides the Consortium’s work in collaborating with leading stakeholders in the cancer field and grant-making to a range of healthcare and community organizations.

YaVonne Vaughan, executive director of the Consortium, said the grant will help to convey the urgency of the Cancer Control Plan in the District. “The Plan’s goals and objectives ensure that our fight against cancer has a clear roadmap. Increasing awareness about the Plan−and its advocacy of equal access to treatment and quality care−is as important as creating it. This funding will help us spread our message to those who need to understand the Plan’s valuable and, in some cases, life-saving recommendations, especially among populations where cancer diagnoses and mortality are disproportionately high.” 

(May 6, 2012) DC Cancer Consortium and its partners, the DC Department of Health, Avon Foundation for Women and Susan G. Komen for the Cure are pooling their resources to assess breast cancer screening patterns in the District. The investment in comprehensive breast cancer control in the District from multiple sources has amounted to $4 million in the past two years.  The District leads the country in breast cancer deaths. 

During the recent Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Washington, the Avon Foundation awarded  the Consortium a $75,000 grant to assist in conducting the Breast Screening Surveillance Project, an in-depth analysis of breast cancer screening, diagnoses, treatment, and outcomes for nearly 2,400 women in the city. The Consortium is among 10 grantees that received awards from the Avon Foundation. Komen also has pledged $75,000 toward the breast cancer surveillance program.

“We have been funding the breast cancer fight in the District without asking some hard questions,” said Dr. John Lynch, board chairman of the Consortium and a retired oncologist. “We believe this breast cancer surveillance project will provide the answers we need to bring down breast cancer rates significantly in the District.”

The research will involve linking breast cancer screening and outcomes data across multiple screening facilities and the DC Cancer Registry. Researchers will analyze motivators to screening, exposure to community-based education, breast cancer family history, demographic sub-groups, geographic locations, income status, age, screening patterns, as well as stage of diagnosis, treatment, and other cancer outcomes among District residents over the past three years and in the future.

“The diverse population in the District, coupled with the high breast cancer mortality and incidence rates among women, makes the District a unique location to research the patterns of breast cancer screening and outcomes,” said YaVonne Vaughan, executive director of the Consortium, in a recent blog post about the project. “Only then will the money being poured into breast cancer control here really make a difference. We are on a mission to save lives here. When it comes to breast cancer, that means we need to ‘connect the dots’ that will help us wipe away any health disparities.”

In addition, the breast surveillance project is expected to develop an online reporting portal to communicate findings to the community, policy makers, and stakeholders throughout the District.

(Washington, April 3, 2012) -- Recognizing April as Cancer Control Month, DC Cancer Consortium today announced new rounds of funding for two signature programs, Citywide Patient Navigation Network (CPNN) and DC Screen for Life (DCSFL). Both programs are funded to help reduce the high incidence of cancer and rates of death from the disease in the District.  Each year, more than 2,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed in the District of Columbia and more than 1,100 people die from the disease, according to the DC Cancer Registry.    

“We are pleased to extend funding for these programs that provide the access to care and early detection that we so passionately advocate for cancer control in the District,” said Dr. John Lynch, board chairman of the Consortium. “We are making progress on controlling the rates of cancer, but we have more work to do.”

The Consortium awarded $1 million in additional grant funding to CPPN, administered by The George Washington University Cancer Institute.  CPNN helps cancer patients overcome barriers to timely and appropriate care as they transition between health care institutions and support services.  A total of $3.4 million has been awarded to the CPNN program since it launched in September 2010.  The network is comprised of 34 patient navigators at 44 partner sites. So far, more than 9,000 cancer patients and residents have received navigation and cancer awareness services as part of the program. The Consortium also connects cancer patients and caregivers to CPNN through its DC Cancer Answers^SM phone line (202) 585-3210, administered in partnership with the American Cancer Society.

The DC Screen for Life program, administered by Howard University Cancer Center, received $105,000 to continue screenings through June 2012. Since June of 2010, the DC Screen for Life program has performed 350 colonoscopies and 35 fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) procedures on qualified residents and educated over 2,000 people about the life-saving benefit of screening for colon cancer at the age of 50 or earlier. Nearly one out of every three patients who received a colonoscopy had a precancerous polyp removed. The program is open to uninsured and under-insured residents in the District of Columbia. 

YaVonne Vaughan, executive director of the Consortium, echoed the value of the early detection program. “We have been in this battle for some time now, trying to get both policy makers and the public to understand that death from some types of cancer can be prevented and colon cancer is at the top of that list.”

(Washington, March 16, 2012) -- Elizabeth Carrott Minnigh, Esq., today became the newest member of the DC Cancer Consortium Board of Directors, which has expanded its board in the past year. Minnigh brings more than 12 years of experience in legal and tax matters for nonprofit organizations, trusts and estates, and social enterprise organizations. A tax attorney with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, P.C., Minnigh co-chairs the firm’s Nonprofit Organization Group. She also co-chairs the Communications committee of the Washington Estate Planning Council.

“We are confident the addition of Elizabeth Carrott Minnigh will be a major asset as we expand our reach and seek new resources to reduce the burden of cancer for residents in our area, particularly the medically underserved,” said DCCC Board Chairman, Dr. John J. Lynch.  

Minnigh is a frequent lecturer and author on topics relating to social enterprise, business law, nonprofit organizations, estate planning, and regularly contributes to BNA/Tax Management publications as well as blogs focusing on legal and philanthropic topics.

Prior to joining Buchanan, Ms. Minnigh was an associate in the private clients group in the New York office of Sidley Austin LLP and practiced in the area of trusts and estates and corporate law with Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP, a New York-based law firm. 

A member of the Bar in the District of Columbia and New York, she earned a law degree from  the University of Pennsylvania, where she also served as Senior Editor of the Journal of International Economic Law. She also holds an LL.M. in taxation from New York University and has an undergraduate degree in history and studio art from Kenyon College.

Minnigh’s appointment to the Consortium’s board follows recent appointments by Dr. James Cobey, a renowned orthopedic surgeon and human rights activist whose team shared the Nobel Peace Prize for seeking to ban land mines, and Dr. Oscar E. Streeter, chairman of the radiation oncology department at Howard University School of Medicine.

The board expansion comes in the wake of major change at the Consortium.  In the past year, the Consortium implemented a strategic plan; updated the DC Cancer Control Plan for the next five years; created an advisory board of leading Washington area cancer experts and professionals; formed alliances with leading organizations for research into systemic impediments that impact access to cancer care; and assumed fiscal responsibility for a national pediatric palliative care organization, District of Columbia Pediatric Palliative Care Collaboration and its annual conference. 

(Washington, Nov. 4, 2011) -- The blueprint for directing DC Cancer Consortium’s work as a grant-maker and convener, the  2011-2016 DC Cancer Control Plan  also gives the District of Columbia’s cancer control stakeholders a roadmap for reducing the burden of cancer for all residents. The Plan sets measurable goals for reducing incidence and death rates for cancer types that are prevalent in the District, in particular, lung and other tobacco-related cancers, breast, prostate and colorectal cancers.  Building on the goals and achievements of the initial 2005-2010 Plan, the revised Plan is the work of nearly 120 District of Columbia healthcare professionals and community stakeholders who spent nearly eight months to fashion the Plan’s evidence-based goals and objectives. Recommendations by key stakeholder groups were reviewed and finalized by a steering committee of leading health practitioners who comprised the Steering Committee to Revise the DC Cancer Control Plan. 

(Washington, Nov. 4, 2011) — The District of Columbia Pediatric Palliative Care Collaboration capped its two-day continuing education program for physicians, nurses, social workers, child life specialists and palliative care experts at the Renaissance Washington Downtown Hotel with a panel discussion by parents coping with the death of a child. 

An estimated 500,000 children cope with life-threatening conditions in the United States, and each year 53,000 children die from trauma, lethal congenital conditions, extreme pre-maturity, heritable disorders or cancer.  Less than one percent of children who face these illnesses and their families receive hospice care.

The conference, named after the late Dr. Carlos F. Gomez, who cared forchildren who  faced life-limiting and/or life-threatening illnesses, is designed to bring together physicians, practicing palliative care, oncology, hospice, pediatric, and other professional nurses, social workers, clergy, and child life specialists for continuing education and for the benefit of the patients and their families across the care continuum. 

The conference program included presentations and perspectives on pediatric palliative care from published experts in the field. They included:  J. Donald Schumacher, PsyD, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization; Christopher Feudtner, MD, PhD, MPH, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia;  Aziza Shad, MD, Georgetown University Hospital;   Sarah Friebert, MD, FAAP, FAAHPM, Akron Children’s Hospital; Stefan Friedrichsdorf, MD, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota; Siva Subramanian, MD, Georgetown University Hospital;  Jean Teasley, MD, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System;  Timothy Culbert, MD, Ridgeview Medical Center; Philip Carpenter, MDiv, Hospice Foundation of America; Liz Sumner, BSN, RN, Elizabeth Hospice, Inc.;  Kristen Deboy Caminiti, MSW, LISCW, Dr. Bob’s Place; and Deborah Dokken, MPA, a nationally recognized parent advocate.

A special presentation concerning talking to children about serious subjects featured William H. Isler, president of the Fred Rogers Company, founded by the late Fred Rogers, host of the PBS Show “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.”  

“This year, we focused on a discussion of palliative care for the three leading types of serious illnesses that clinicians encounter in pediatric practice--cancer, congenital anomalies and/or neurodegenerative disorders,” said Susan K. Rogers, executive director and founder of the District of Columbia Pediatric Palliative Care Collaboration.  “Our goal is always to fill the gaps of knowledge for clinicians and others who touch the lives of those affected by these diseases,” said Rogers, a registered nurse and published expert on pediatric palliative care. 

Conference sponsors included the American Cancer Society, BB&T Bank, CareFirst Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Michael and Ruth Ann Clark, Covidien – Mallinckrodt, DC Cancer Consortium, DC Department of Health, Foundation for End of Life Care, Georgetown University Hospital Department of Pediatrics, LiveSTRONG, the Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation as well as a donation from 4Imprint. 

About DCPPCC

The District of Columbia Pediatric Palliative Care Collaboration (DCPPCC) was founded in 2007 to facilitate a comprehensive, system-wide program in pediatric hospice and palliative care that addresses the clinical and compassionate care needs of children facing life-limiting illness and their families.  During 2011, DCPPCC became a subsidiary of the District of Columbia Cancer Consortium, a nonprofit grant-making organization of more than 75 organizations dedicated to easing the burden of cancer in the Washington metropolitan area. Both DCPPCC and the Consortium are 501(c)(3) charitable organizations registered in the District of Columbia. 

(Washington, Oct. 19, 2011) – DC Cancer Consortium today announced a strategic alliance with Avon Foundation for Women, Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and the DC Department of Health to fight cancer in the District. Combined, the groups have awarded more than $30 million in grants over the past three years to hospitals, cancer centers, and community organizations throughout the metropolitan Washington area.  The funders are now collaborating to develop a more efficient and cost-effective model of strategic grantmaking to support their cancer control work. Those efforts include improving cancer awareness and education, early detection and treatment, with a focus on hard-to-reach and medically underserved populations.

Among the anticipated outcomes of the grantmakers’ collaboration is the development of new grant-making activities and processes.  The new processes are expected to lead to the creation of a common grant application and shared evaluation protocols; development and delivery of coordinated technical assistance and capacity building activities; establishment of targeted and shared funding strategies that support improved access to treatment and navigation for cancer survivors; and coordinated activity supporting advocacy and policy advancement.

As a result of the collaboration, the partners anticipate many more people will be informed about cancer, its prevention and treatment in the Washington metropolitan area, receive services sooner, and at a lower cost.  In addition, grantees will increase their effectiveness and cost efficiency through the standardization of the grant-making process.  The grantmakers also hope to provide grantees with more technical support and training, which will improve their capacity to provide services, sustain operations and evaluate the effectiveness of their programs in the community.

“There is always room for improvement in all we do. This collaboration will improve the way we issue and monitor grants,” said YaVonne Vaughan, executive director of the Consortium.

“With the changes sweeping through the healthcare system in general, it makes sense for grantmakers to assess the landscape and respond in a proactive way.”

Partners in the alliance expressed optimism about the outcomes of their new initiative.

“We have resources, but we need to be strategic about the way we invest them. Many women depend on us to make the right decisions to continue to benefit their lives. Our new partnership will ensure that efforts on their behalf will make the best use of our resources,” said Heather Patrick, manager of community giving for Komen.

Marc Hurlbert, executive director of the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade said: “The presence of our vast cancer care network in Washington dictates that we explore these new ways of working together to ensure all women have the cancer care they deserve in the Nation’s Capital.

“We are making major strides in comprehensive cancer control in the District. However, as available funding for cancer shrinks, it becomes critically important to leverage existing resources to make a larger impact,” said Amari Pearson-Fields, program manager of the Comprehensive Cancer Control Program at the DC Department of Health. “This unique       public-private partnership that focuses on improving the impact of cancer funding through collaboration can serve as a model for other states to follow.”

The School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University’s H. John Heinz III College will provide research and technical assistance to a task force established by the grantmakers to formulate the new cancer grant-making model.  The involvement of Heinz College researchers will assist in helping the model meet best practice standards, which will encourage replication in other cities and states.

“We are excited about the funders’ collaboration and our role in helping to shape the far-reaching potential outcomes of this work. Our interdisciplinary approach to solving the most pressing global challenges will be well-suited for the goal of fighting cancer in the District,” said Robert Wilburn, Distinguished Service Professor and Director of Heinz College, which has offices in Washington, D.C.

The partners expect to issue the first collaborative grant early next year.  

About the participating grantmakers

Avon Foundation for Women

The Avon Foundation for Women, the world’s largest corporate-affiliated philanthropy focused on issues that matter most to women, was founded in 1955 to improve the lives of women.  Through 2010, Avon global philanthropy has donated more than $800 million more than 50 countries for causes most important to women.  Today, Avon philanthropy focuses its funding on breast cancer research and access to care through the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade, and efforts to reduce domestic and gender violence through its Speak Out Against Domestic Violence program.  Avon also responds generously to provide support for relief and recovery efforts in times of major natural disasters and emergencies.

Contact:

Karyn Margolis

212-282-5666

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DC Cancer Consortium

The DC Cancer Consortium (DCCC) is a 501(c)(3) grant-making public charity comprised of more than 70 organizations committed to cancer control and prevention in the District of Columbia. Its mission is driven by the DC Cancer Control Plan, which directs its work to engage resources, build collaborative partnerships and provide funding support to reduce cancer incidence and mortality, eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in cancer treatment and improve the quality of life for cancer survivors.DCCC receives funding from a grant from the DC Council, which is administered through the District of Columbia Department of Health. It also receives funds from and an ever-growing cadre of public, corporate and foundation supporters for its many programs, including the DC Pediatric Palliative Care Collaboration.

Contact:

 Lisa Bass

(202) 821-1926

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Department of Health, Government of the District of Columbia

The mission of the Department of Health is to promote and protect the health, safety and quality of life of residents, visitors and those doing business in the District of Columbia.

Our responsibilities include identifying health risks; educating the public; preventing and controlling diseases, injuries and exposure to environmental hazards; promoting effective community collaborations; and optimizing equitable access to community resources.

Contact:

Mahlori Isaacs

(202) 442-9211

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Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Three decades after its founding, Susan G. Komen for the Cure is uniting the boldest community of breast cancer survivors and advocates together to fuel the best science and make the biggest impact in the fight against the disease.  Thanks to events like the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure® and the Susan G. Komen 3-day for the Cure®, and generous contributions from partners, sponsors and fellow supporters, Komen has become the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world, having invested more than $1.9 billion since inception in research focused on decreasing breast cancer incidence and mortality, as well as in community-based breast health programs providing education, screening and treatment.

Contact:

Rebecca Gibson

(972) 855-4319

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(Washington, Oct. 27, 2011) --The District of Columbia remains among the top ten states for cancer incidence and mortality. In response, neo-soul/R&B artist Raheem DeVaughn joined the fight against cancer in the District with a benefit concert, Raheem DeVaughn and Friends, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011 at Indulj Restaurant and Lounge, 1208 U Street, NW, at 7 p.m. An after-party featured the artist greeting donors and signing autographs.

The event highlights included:

To see the performance, click here.

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(Washington, Oct. 7, 2011) -- DC Cancer Consortium (DCCC), the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing cancer incidence and mortality rates for residents of the District of Columbia and surrounding suburbs, recently hired David Castañeda as Director of Finance.   

“David brings a wealth of talent and insight about organizational growth to DC Cancer Consortium at a pivotal time in our organizational history,” said DCCC Executive Director YaVonne Vaughan.  “We are confident he will make a demonstrable difference in leveraging and managing our existing resources to achieve success in our mission to reduce cancer incidence and death rates in the city,” said Vaughan.

Castañeda brings more than 15 years of experience in nonprofit and for-profit management roles, including Financial Analyst, Accounting Manager, Controller, Finance Director and CFO in charge of financial management, accounting, operations management, human resources and benefits administration, training, sales management, marketing and development, and information technologies.  During his career, Castañeda provided management consulting for government agencies, including the Department of Justice (DOJ), commercial entities and nonprofit organizations. He also managed budgets, ranging from $500,000 to $8.5 million in annual revenues. He serves as Board Member at the Arc of Montgomery County, and prior to joining DCCC he served in similar capacities at We Care America, National Caucus and Center for the Black Aged, Community Financial Education Foundation, among other organizations.

Castañeda earned his MBA in Finance from Northeastern University (UMNE) in Monterrey, Mexico and serves as Adjunct Professor for the School of Business at Virginia International University. Castañeda currently is pursuing a post-graduate degree in Strategic Planning at the Edinburg School of Business, Heriot-Watt University, UK.  

(Washington, May 4, 2011) –DC Cancer Consortium has released new printed and online versions of its free DCCC Transportation Resource Guide, an extensive, up-to-date compilation of transportation resources in the Washington metropolitan region to support cancer survivors, caregivers and health care professionals.

The DCCC Transportation Guide is an update of the 2007 edition, along with a newly added Spanish translation.  Both versions are available for download or hard copy orders at the Consortium website, www.dccancerconsortium.org/publications/index.html.   Printed copies of the guide are being distributed to community clinics, oncologists, hospitals, cancer support organizations and community-based organizations.

“Lack of transportation, or knowledge about transportation support, can be a major barrier and frustration for people coping with cancer,” said YaVonne Vaughan, the Consortium’s Executive Director.  “We know that removing those barriers encourages the medically underserved in our communities to get the care they need.”

Publication of the DC Cancer Consortium Transportation Guide is made possible by a grant from the Community Health Administration, Department of Health, Government of the District of Columbia.

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John J. Lynch, MD, FACP

Chairman

John J. Lynch, MD, is a founding member and chairman of the DC Cancer Consortium (DCCC), a nonprofit, public charity that has administered a portfolio of more than $11 million in grants to help control cancer in the District of Columbia. 

A professor of bioethics at Georgetown University School of Medicine, Dr. Lynch also is a bioethics consultant at the Washington Hospital Center. He is the former Associate Medical Director at the Washington Cancer Institute at Washington Hospital Center and has held numerous positions on advisory boards and boards of health care organizations, including the American Cancer Society and American Society of Clinical Oncology.

His community involvement and knowledge of health care have helped DCCC wage an aggressive struggle to reduce the incidence, morbidity and mortality of cancer in the District.

Dr. Lynch earned his medical degree in 1958 from New York Medical College in New York. He received his undergraduate degree from Mt. Saint Mary’s College, in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Donald E. Henson, MD

Vice Chairman

Donald E. Henson, MD, is Clinical Professor of Pathology and Clinical Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at The George Washington University School of Medicine. He is also co-director of the Division of Cancer Control and Epidemiology at The George Washington University Cancer Institute.

Board certified in pathology, Dr. Henson trained at Rush Presbyterian St Luke's Hospital in Chicago. After a year of post-doctoral training, Dr. Henson joined the National Institutes of Health and eventually the Laboratory of Pathology of the National Cancer Institute.

In addition to pathology, Dr. Henson has served in the Division of Cancer Prevention as Program Director in the Early Cancer Detection Program. Research interests have included the analysis of prognostic factors, diagnostic encoding, and the morphology of pre-cancerous lesions. He has served as a consultant to the World Health Organization and to the Pan American Health Organization.

He also has served as Chair of the American Joint Committee on Cancer and Chair of the Cancer Committee of the College of American Pathologists. Dr. Henson has published more than 200 peer reviewed manuscripts and 15 books and manuals, including a book on the Pathology of Incipient Neoplasia. Currently, Dr. Henson is Vice Chair of the DC Cancer Consortium, and Chair of the Quality Management Subcommittee at The George Washington University Hospital. He also serves as Chair of the Tumor Registry Advisory Board of the DC Department of Health.

James "Jim" Butler

Treasurer

James “Jim” Butler brings decades of experience in non-profit management, serving most of his career in executive positions for organizations that meet the needs  of students, teachers, and senior citizens. Currently, he is active as a consultant in children’s health care and engaged in numerous community and health-related volunteer activities.

Butler had a long career with the National Education Association, much of it spent leading the organization’s Legal Defense Fund. He stepped into the role at the height of court-ordered school desegregation in the South, at a time when the NEA was taking a leadership role to further desegregation and to protect women’s and minority rights.

After college at the University of Nevada-Reno and graduate work at the University of California-Berkeley, Jim joined the Army and served during the Korean War era. After serving his country, Jim became a teacher. His work led to an offer of a staff position with the teachers’ association in Las Vegas in 1965. At the age of 32, he was asked to lead Nevada Teachers’ Association, which he did for five successful years, working in legislation, curriculum, and school finance and managing the association. 

Jack Sheahan

Secretary

Jack Sheahan serves as President and Executive Director of the Greater Washington Coalition for Cancer Survivors (GWCCS). Following a 32-year career in the offices of Space Flight and Space Station at NASA  Headquarters, he spent several years at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University, where he managed the publication of books on space policy as well as workshops on current and future space activities.

Mr. Sheahan received a BA degree in Economics from Georgetown University and a MBA degree from Columbia University and is a graduate of the National Defense University’s Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

James C. Cobey, MD, MPH, FACS

Dr. James C. Cobey is President of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia and a board certified orthopaedic surgeon in an independent practice, which specializes in major trauma, spine reconstruction, and total joint replacement.  He has been the team doctor for Gallaudet University, the post-secondary school for the deaf, for 20 years.

An instructor on International Humanitarian Law and Disaster Relief for the Red Cross, Dr. Cobey holds the rank of Professor of Orthopaedics at Georgetown University and Senior Associate at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. He has been guest lecturer at Yale University, The George Washington University and other medical schools and is the author of numerous articles on orthopaedics and international relief.

Dr. Cobey served in the U.S. Army as chief of the Preventive Medicine Service at Fort Lewis, Washington (1971-1973), attaining the rank of Major and receiving the Meritorious Service Medal. He completed his orthopaedic residency in 1976 at Yale University.

He has extensive international experience with many agencies. In 1964, he worked with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip assisting in refugee care. In 1966, he worked in western Nigeria studying the epidemiology and effectiveness of primary health centers. In 1967, he worked extensively in northern Haiti in a primary health center where he developed public health programs. While he was at Yale studying orthopaedics in 1976, he worked in Hong Kong with tuberculosis and polio patients.

In 1979, he was assigned by the American Red Cross as an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) health delegate to work on the Thai-Cambodia border. In this capacity, he was coordinator of one of the largest refugee camps managing medical care as well as overall relief care. Since that time he has worked as a consultant to the Agency for International Development (USAID) on health care programs at the Thai-Cambodian border.

In 1981, he revitalized an organization, Orthopaedics Overseas, to send physicians abroad teaching. He expanded this organization into Health Volunteers Overseas, an organization that sends over 300 physicians, nurses, dentists, and therapists annually to over 20 developing countries. The focus is on long-term development and teaching programs carefully designed to use locally available technology and teach providers to use the equipment they have at hand rather than depend on donated resources.

In 1991, Dr. Cobey, together with two other staff members from Physicians for Human Rights, conducted the initial epidemiological study of landmines. This led to publication of the book, Landmines in Cambodia: The Coward’s War. This joint publication for Physicians for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch led to the creation of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Since that point, Dr. Cobey has worked with Human Rights Watch in the review conferences in Geneva in 1996 and the initiation of the Ottawa Treaty, which was finally signed in 1997. Dr. Cobey has been very closely involved with Physicians for Human Rights and the coordinating committee of the ICBL to study the epidemiology of landmines.  He has worked closely with the World Health Organization and many other ICBL members to develop standardized epidemiological techniques to measure the impact of landmine injuries throughout countries and the effectiveness of international relief and aid efforts. He has spearheaded efforts to standardize tools to measure the effectiveness of the landmine treaty so that non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the United Nations, and the World Health Organization all use the same basic system. As a member of Physicians for Human Rights, Dr. Cobey shared in the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for his work with the ICBL. In addition to his work to ban landmines, Dr. Cobey led a team to evaluate violations of the Geneva Conventions in the West Bank and Gaza in October 2001.

Dr. Cobey also helped develop the American Red Cross Tissue Bank system into a centralized national system. He served on the ARC National Biomedical Committee as it restructured the American blood system. He dealt extensively with issues of FDA compliance and standardization.  He has served on the boards and advisory committees of the American Fracture Association, the National Capital Chapter of the American Red Cross, Capitol Hill Hospital, the Fogarty International Center of the NIH, Refugees International, and the Visiting Nurse Association of Washington, D.C. as well as Health Volunteers Overseas.

He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Johns Hopkins University in 2001 and in 2002 the Frank Annunzio award from the Christopher Columbus Foundation. He is also the recipient of the Charles R. Drew Award and the International Humanitarian Service Award from the American Red Cross.  

Dr. Cobey graduated from Hamilton College with an bachelor of arts degree in history with a specialization in Thai foreign policy in the 19th Century.  He received his M.D. from the Johns Hopkins Medical School and his M.P.H. degree at the School of Hygiene and Public Health, specializing in international health.

Elizabeth Carrott Minnigh

Elizabeth Carrott Minnigh serves as co-chair of the Nonprofit Organizations Group for Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, PC, a law firm with 16 offices throughout the country, including the District of Columbia.  Ms. Minnigh has more than 10 years of experience in the practice of law, focusing on trusts and estates, charitable organizations, social enterprise organizations, art law, family-owned businesses and individual tax law.  She is a frequent lecturer and author on topics relating to nonprofit organizations, social enterprise, tax law and estate planning, and a regular contributor to BNA/Tax Management publications.

Prior to joining Buchanan, Ms. Minnigh was an associate in the private clients group in the New York office of Sidley Austin LLP and practiced in the area of trusts and estates and corporate law with Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP, a New York-based law firm. 

A member of the Bar in the District of Columbia and New York, she is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, where she also served as Senior Editor of the Journal of International Economic Law. She also holds an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University and has an undergraduate degree in history and studio art from Kenyon College. 

Anne Marie O'Keefe, PhD, JD 

Anne Marie O'Keefe is a tenured associate professor in the School of Community Health and Policy at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland.  She has served in the capacity of Chair of Morgan State's Department of Health Policy and Management. In that role, she helped to build the department and develop a community-based public health curriculum. Ms. O'Keefe has more than three decades of experience in the areas of public health program management, communications, advocacy and social reform.  She has extensive experience in program design and management, research and evaluation. 

Prior to working in higher education, Ms. O'Keefe served as a policy director, legal advisor and communication manager for health organizations, government agencies, professional and business associations and government contractors. She is the author of more than 100 articles, chapters, and opinion-editorials and has testified before Congress, Federal agencies, state legislatures and in legal proceedings. 

A member of the District of Columbia Bar, she also is a current member of he American Public Health Association.  A cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, she also holds a PhD and master's degree in Clinical Psychology from Ohio State University.  She earned a dual major in sociology and psychology undergraduate degree from Indiana University. 

Joan Panke, MA, RN, ACHPN

  Joan T. Panke is board certified as a nurse practitioner in palliative care with nearly 20 years experience in the field. Expertise includes clinical practice, program implementation, education and outreach. Currently, Ms. Panke works as an independent consultant providing palliative care educational programs, outreach efforts and health policy advocacy. She implemented and grew the inpatient palliative care consult service at The George Washington University Hospital and served as the service’s director for five years. As Executive Director for the DC Partnership, Ms. Panke led a regional effort to improve palliative care in the metropolitan Washington, DC area, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Community-State Partnerships program. Ms. Panke also worked as a curriculum consultant, advisory board member, and national faculty on the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) project.

Ms. Panke received her nursing diploma from St. Vincent’s Hospital School of Nursing in New York, her bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington, Seattle/Bothell, and her master’s degree from New York University in the Advanced Practice Palliative Care Program. She has extensive teaching experience and has authored several publications on various palliative care topics. She is co-editor for HPNA’s Conversations in Palliative Care (3^rd edition), and co-author of HPNA’s Heart Failure Compendium (both available at www.hpna.org).

B.P. Walker, MD

B.P. Walker serves as founding Dean and Program Director for the Graduate School USA’s Department of Health and Sciences. Dr. Walker launched the first academic programs in the school’s 90-year history. The Department now offers two associate degree and three certificate programs in some of the most in-demand allied health professions.

She holds an Adjunct Faculty position at Trinity University (Washington, DC). Additionally, Dr. Walker has been invited to be guest speaker by area organizations, such DC Economic Development Partnership, National institute of Health and George Washington University Medical Associates. Dr. Walker attended Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Biology with honors. She earned her M.D. from Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC. In 2012, she completed graduate studies at Sellinger School of Business, Loyola University Maryland, and was awarded a Master of Business Administration as part of the Executive Program. 

YaVonne Vaughan

Executive Director

YaVonne Vaughan brings more than 10 years of community health care programming and advocacy to her position as Executive Director of DC Cancer Consortium (DCCC), a nonprofit, grant-making organization that administers a portfolio of more than $11 million in grants.  During her tenure, Ms. Vaughan has been responsible for creating, leading, and managing initiatives in all four of DCCC’s strategic areas:  prevention, early detection, improved treatment and research.  The initiatives have helped to reduce racial, ethnic and economic disparities, particularly as they relate to access to cancer care for the three most prevalent forms of the disease, which include lung, breast and colorectal cancer.

Prior to joining the DC Cancer Consortium, Ms. Vaughan led the DC Department of Health Primary Health Program, where she managed more than $3 million in grants and other local funds.

Ms. Vaughan serves in leadership capacities with several local/regional community organizations.  She currently chairs the Lombardi-Georgetown Health Disparities Initiative Community Advisory Board and is an active member of District of Columbia Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant Committee; the District of Columbia Public Housing Health Planning Committee; and the North Columbia Heights Civic Association, where she currently serves as Co-Vice President for Events and Outreach. 

Her community involvement and knowledge of healthcare outreach have helped DCCC stay at the forefront of the District of Columbia’s aggressive struggle to reduce the incidence, morbidity and mortality of cancer.

A magna cum laude graduate of the University of the District of Columbia, Ms. Vaughan holds a Master of Professional Studies (MPS) in Leadership and Organizations-Strategic Innovation and Change from the University of Denver.

She resides in the Columbia Heights section of Washington, DC, with her husband and daughter.