Contact: Ellen Bank
843.792.2626
Sept. 30, 2003
COLUMBIA -- The appointment of the University of South Carolina (USC)’s
James R. Hebert, Sc.D., to head up MUSC Hollings Cancer Center (HCC)’s
prevention and control activities will bring expertise from two state research
universities to address South Carolina’s pressing cancer problems.
Hebert will retain his appointment as professor of epidemiology and biostatistics
at USC’s Arnold School of Public Health as he assumes the position of
associate center director for prevention and control at HCC.
“It is fitting to announce this appointment at the South Carolina Cancer
Alliance (SCCA) meeting,” said Carolyn Reed, M.D, director of the Hollings
Cancer Center. “This is a group representing more than 300 statewide individuals
and organizations whose mission is reducing the impact of cancer on all of the
people in South Carolina.”
South Carolina’s death rate for certain cancers is extremely high. Nationally,
the state has the second highest mortality rate for multiple myeloma and oral/pharynx
cancer and the third highest for pancreas and prostate cancers. A wide disparity
exists among South Carolinians who are affected, with disparity rates in South
Carolina being the highest in the nation. Cancer incidence rates are consistently
higher for blacks than whites for most cancer sites, and African American mortality
rates are nearly twice that of whites for certain cancers. African American
women get breast cancer less frequently than white women in South Carolina,
but African American women usually are not diagnosed until a later stage, adversely
affecting their survival.
South Carolina is a rural state with a 30 percent African American population
and is relatively economically disadvantaged. This translates into barriers
to access cancer care and more advanced cancer at the time of diagnosis. “South
Carolina is fertile ground for research in cancer prevention and control,”
said Reed. “At the Hollings Cancer Center, we have a variety of very successful
cancer prevention and control programs, but we need an energetic leader to bring
these programs together and expand them to meet the needs of all of the people
in our state.
“In Dr. Hebert, we not only have an energetic, innovative leader with
a proven track record in cancer prevention and control research activities,
but he brings with him the superb resources of the University of South Carolina’s
Arnold School of Public Health and numerous others statewide contacts.”
He is currently the principal investigator of the South Carolina Cancer Research
Network and chair of the Research Task Force of the SCCA.
Working with faculty and resources at Hollings and USC, Hebert will oversee
a statewide cancer prevention and control program to advance scientific knowledge
and implement effective measures to reduce cancer incidence, mortality and disparity
in South Carolina.
“A strong, targeted research program is an important part of this initiative,”
explained Reed. “Rather than competing for funds, the cancer researchers
in South Carolina will be joining forces. This will enhance their ability to
compete for grants and contracts and develop contracts to conduct specific research
targeting cancer issues affecting South Carolinians.”
Hebert’s leadership will assist in HCC’s goal of achieving the elite
status of National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation. “An effective and
coordinated prevention and control program with a strong research foundation
will enhance these efforts,” said Reed. “Dr. Hebert will bring the
many existing resources from MUSC and USC together into a cohesive unit that
will meet the NCI’s stringent requirements.”
Hebert is an epidemiologist, whose main area of cancer research relates to diet
and other aspects of lifestyle such as physical activity, smoking and drinking.
He is also interested in reasons why dietary interventions fail, especially
long-term. This has led him to study the social, psychological and emotional
dimensions in diet. He is principal investigator on 13 studies, including one
recently funded by the U.S. Army that looks at how the course of prostate cancer
is affected by an intensive, vegetable-based diet combined with physical activity
and stress reduction.
A graduate of Boston University, Hebert holds a Master of Science in Public
Health from the University of Washington in Seattle and a Doctor of Science
in nutritional epidemiology from Harvard University. He held a Fulbright Senior
Research Fellowship for Research into Diet and Oral Cancer in India and has
been elected a fellow of the American College of Epidemiology and a member of
the Nutrition Society of London. Prior to joining the USC Arnold School of Public
Health in 1999, he served as deputy director of the University of Massachusetts
Cancer Center.
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