Q and A with Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center Community Outreach and Engagement Leader Dr. Erin Kobetz
The epidemiologist works with community stakeholders throughout Florida to to develop and oversee implementation of the State Cancer Plan.
Erin Kobetz, Ph.D., M.P.H., grounds her work in the principles of participatory action research. Her approach brings researchers and community members together to determine the focus and scope of research projects, prioritizing integrity and rigor and responding to community needs.
As associate director for community outreach and engagement, vice president for health promotion and chief well-being officer at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Dr. Kobetz leads community-based, collaborative projects, including Sylvester’s Game Changer™ vehicles and Scan360.
She discusses her work in the following interview, which has been edited for length and clarity.
What are your roles at Sylvester and how does your research connect these areas?
As associate director for community outreach and engagement, I’m responsible for working bi-directionally with community stakeholders throughout South Florida and ensuring that their priorities map onto the focus of our multidisciplinary research, from bench to population.
I’m an epidemiologist by training, and I work collaboratively with community stakeholders on research that reflects shared interests.
Please tell us about your new role as chair of the Florida Cancer Control and Research Advisory Council (CCRAB)?
I’m responsible for working with stakeholders throughout the Sunshine State, including representatives from Florida’s three other National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers, to develop and oversee implementation of the State Cancer Plan.
The plan provides a framework for stakeholders who are committed to advancing cancer prevention and control to appreciate how cancer is distributed across Florida, both in terms of geographies and population subgroups, and provides an opportunity to structure research and evidence-based intervention accordingly.
For example, this year we’ve decided to organize a working group around cervical cancer elimination.
In Florida, we have the only population-based registry to assess cancer within the fire service. The work we’ve done has helped contribute to a national conversation around the need for policy and practice change to protect those who protect us.
Dr. Erin Kobetz
January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. Can you tell us more about your cervical cancer prevention efforts?
Cervical cancer elimination is a World Health Organization goal, with the intent to reduce disease incidence to four per 100,000. Initially, their focus was on the developing world, where the burden of cervical cancer remains the highest. In Florida, our cervical cancer incidence rate is about eight per 100,000, and higher for certain populations, particularly minority women, and in certain geographies, such as rural places.
Through CCRAB, I brought together the cancer centers and other stakeholders to think strategically about how we can make progress on elimination targets, which include vaccination, screening and treatment. We codified some of those ideas in the cancer plan.
At Sylvester, one of the Game Changer vehicles’ screenings is self-sampling for human papillomavirus, the principal cause of cervical cancer. Self-sampling for HPV was recently approved by the FDA and endorsed by the American Cancer Society as an appropriate strategy for cervical cancer prevention and early detection.
Some of the earliest work substantiating the efficacy of self-sampling was done at Sylvester by me and my team, and Game Changer has been doing this screening since its inception.
January is also Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month, and you lead Sylvester’s Firefighter Cancer Initiative. What should people know about firefighters’ cancer risks?
Firefighters, by virtue of occupational exposures, are at increased risk of developing and dying of cancers. For the past 10-and-a-half years, Sylvester has worked with firefighters and other fire service personnel throughout the state to understand and address what accounts for this disparity. We pursue research at the bench, in a mobile clinic and in population-based science that enables us to generate true estimates of cancer risk and outcomes among first responders.
I’m particularly proud that in Florida, we have the only population-based registry to assess cancer within the fire service. The work we’ve done has helped contribute to a national conversation around the need for policy and practice change to protect those who protect us.
It’s rare as a translational scientist to see the conceptualization of an idea move all along a continuum to policy impact. That’s happened in a short span, largely because of the tenacity of our firefighter collaborators who don’t want to just generate knowledge, but feel like we should act on findings in such a way that it reduces disease burden.
What do you enjoy outside of work?
Exercise is my sanity. My latest focus is a triathlon and I’m enjoying splitting my exercise time between the bike, running and a pool.
I’m also an avid baker. At Christmas, I bake hundreds of different cookies to share with family and friends. My nickname within that group is Dr. Cookie.
Tags: cancer research, Cervical cancer, Dr. Erin Kobetz, Game Changer, SCAN 360, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sylvester Firefighter Cancer Initiative