The University of Nebraska Medical Center Eppley Cancer Center, the UNMC College of Nursing, and The Nebraska Medical Center next week will host Carol Estwing Ferrans, Ph.D.
She is associate dean for research and professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing. Dr. Ferrans, the college’s Twentieth Visiting Nurse Scholar, will make a variety of presentations on campus. On April 14 she will present “Research: Exposing the Deadly Difference” during an Eppley Cancer Center grand rounds luncheon presentation at noon on campus in the Durham Research Center auditorium.
Dr. Ferrans will talk about ground-breaking findings that led to changes in health care policy, legislation, and increased funding, to address disparities in death from breast cancer. An important part of her research has focused on cross-cultural issues, including approaches to increase validity of data and participation in research for minority populations in the U.S.
The professor, who also is deputy director of the college’s Center for Population Health and Health Disparities, has been conducting studies focusing on quality of life and disparities in health care for 20 years. She is funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Ann Berger, Ph.D., who is spearheading the visit for the UNMC College of Nursing, said Dr. Ferrans’ talk will focus on a program in Chicago that led to increased early detection of breast cancer among women of diverse backgrounds and economic levels and reduce mortality in this population.
UNMC is the only public health science center in the state. Its educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. Through their commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach, UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have established themselves as one of the country’s leading centers in cancer, transplantation biology, bioterrorism preparedness, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetics, biomedical technology and ophthalmology. UNMC’s research funding from external sources now exceeds $82 million annually and has resulted in the creation of more than 2,600 highly skilled jobs in the state. UNMC’s physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, includes 513 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties who practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center. For more information, go to UNMC’s Web site at www.unmc.edu.
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