Lauren McCullough, PhD, MSPH, has professional and personal reasons for her devotion to the groundbreaking VOICES of Black Women campaign at the American Cancer Society.
McCullough is a health disparity scientist and co-principal investigator of the VOICES of Black Women study, which is working to determine the myriad of reasons Black women die disproportionately from most types of cancers in the United States.
Despite significant strides in cancer research, the ACS reports that Black women continue to have the highest death rate — and the shortest survival — of any racial or ethnic group in the U.S. for most cancers. Remarkable, then, when you juxtapose this alarming set of statistics with the fact that Black women continue to be under-represented in population studies, clinical trials, and research positions where their voices can assist in coming up with solutions.
“Black women specifically… are often hit the hardest when we think about cancer and cancer outcomes,” McCullough said. “And oftentimes, the things that we perceive as being drivers of those disparities don’t fully explain the reason why Black women are affected so disproportionately. And so with that context, and with my training, I’ve really tried to better understand, from a multi-level perspective, the molecular social and structural drivers of cancer disparities among Black women.”
McCullough and her team are working to create a permanent paradigm shift with this demographic regarding cancer research and reducing mortality rates. VOICES of Black Women is a long-term study led by the Population Science team within the ACS that aims to enroll at least 100,000 Black women in the United States over the next few years.
The VOICES of Black Women is looking to attract Black women aged 25 to 55 for a non-intrusive study who live in one of the 20 eligible states (and Washington, D.C.) and who have not previously had cancer. After determining your eligibility on voices.cancer.org, “you take your first full survey, which is the life and health history survey about medical conditions, vitamins and supplements, family history, of course, the behaviors, sleep, exercise, physical activity, and then asking about things that are really specific to Black women, including experiences of racism and discrimination,” McCullough said.
VOICES of Black Women is billed as the country’s largest comprehensive study focusing on behavioral and environmental factors contributing to the high cancer rate. This study has been meticulously created and curated by a group of scientists who are all women, with 80 percent of the scientific team comprised of Black women.
“We’ve really thought deeply about the experiences of Black women and what’s been missing from previous research. And so we hope every voice that chooses to connect with us feels seen, feels heard, and feels represented by this study,” McCullough said.
McCullough also explained that prospective participants in VOICES of Black Women will be contacted just twice a year for 30 minutes apiece, which amounts to an hour investment of time per year. As McCullough articulated, it is time for Black women’s voices to be heard, particularly regarding making significant inroads into this disease.
“We know for a very long time, Black women’s voices haven’t been adequately represented in our country, in our communities, particularly the medical community,” she said. “And then, as Black women began to find their voices, oftentimes, those voices were perceived as being too strong or too blunt, or too straightforward. And we believe that there is power in Black women’s voices; we believe there’s a lot to learn to benefit our entire community through the VOICES of Black Women.”
To see if you are eligible to participate in the VOICES of Black Women and to find out more information, log onto https://voices.cancer.org/
