Biological and Social Drivers of Cancer Inequities

The Department of Epidemiology Seminar Series

Speaker:
Timothy R. Rebbeck, PhD
Vincent L. Gregory, Jr. Professor of Cancer Prevention
Director, Zhu Family Center for Global Cancer Prevention
Director, Center for Cancer Equity and Engagement
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health & Dana Farber Cancer Institute

Abstract: Cancer risk and outcomes are driven by biological and genomic variation. While social determinants resulting from systemic racism are the basis for many cancer inequities, there is also growing evidence that germline genetics and the mutational landscape of prostate tumors varies substantially by self-identified race/ethnicity or genetic ancestry. These observations suggest that genomic and biological factors influence cancer incidence and tumor aggressiveness differentially by race and may in part explain disparities by race. Thus, the relative contribution of social drivers and biology should be explored to better understand the causes of cancer health disparities and determine whether interventions can be developed using this information to address inequities. Prostate cancer will be used to illustrate these concepts.

Open to the public.