Winship researcher Ilana Graetz, PhD, has been named the new leader of Winship’s Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) Research Program, effective Sept. 1.
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University researcher Ilana Graetz, PhD, has been named the new leader of Winship’s Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) Research Program, effective September 1. Graetz succeeds Timothy L. Lash, DSc, MPH, who led the program from 2015 until his recent 2023 appointment as Winship’s associate director for population sciences. Mylin Torres, MD, will continue to serve as co-leader of the CPC Program.
“Dr. Graetz is a highly accomplished NIH-funded investigator, collaborator, and mentor, and I’m thrilled that she will lead Winship’s CPC Program," says Suresh S. Ramalingam, MD, Winship’s executive director. "With her expertise in cancer health communication, disparities and policy, her leadership will strengthen areas of Winship’s cancer prevention and control efforts that are central to improving the lives of people in our community.”
As the leader of the CPC Program, Graetz will oversee the program’s strategic development and collaborate with Torres on membership activities, pilot funding, research opportunities, and other initiatives in alignment with Winship’s mission and strategic plan and in support of the program’s goals. The goals of the CPC Program are to reduce cancer risk, incidence, morbidity and mortality, and to improve the quality of life of patients with cancer and survivors in Georgia and beyond.
"I am honored for this opportunity to work with Dr. Torres and the Winship cancer prevention and control community in furthering the mission to improve health and health equity by uncovering preventable causes of cancer, evaluating treatment patterns, and developing interventions that reduce the incidence of cancer, and improve care delivery and quality of life for patients with cancer,” says Graetz.
Graetz, who is an associate professor of health policy and management in the Rollins School of Public Health, joined Emory in 2019. Her research leverages health information technology to better understand how care is delivered and to improve patient outcomes. As principal investigator and co-investigator on federally funded studies, her research spans multiple aspects of health information technology, including data analytics, the role of electronic health records in care quality and coordination, and the design of app-based interventions to improve patient-provider communication, treatment adherence, and outcomes. She is the recipient of several awards and honors including the 2017 Seema S. Sonnad Emerging Leader in Managed Care Research Award from the American Journal of Managed Care, the 2015 Medical Education Innovation Challenge Award from the American Medical Association, and the 2011 Russell M. Grossman Endowment Award. Graetz received undergraduate and doctoral degrees from the University of California, Berkeley.