CPRTP Summer Program Alumni
The foundation of the Cancer Prevention Research Training Program is cancer prevention research and the cultivation of the mentoring relationship between students and professors. Our alumni play an essential role in the research and education missions of MD Anderson Cancer Center.
For more than 30 years, we have provided short-term, NCI-funded research experiences to undergraduate, graduate, and health professional students. Our short-term program has evolved from a three to a six-month program to a structured 10-week program, now known as the CPRTP Summer Research Experience, as part of the MD Anderson Summer Experience.
Many of our short-term alumni go on to build careers as prominent leaders in the areas such as academia, cancer prevention, cancer research, administration, consulting, patient care, health communications, and global health at institutions all over the United States.
Program Term: 6/1/2012 - 8/10/2012
Project:
Discrimination, Self-Rated Health, and Cancer Risk Behaviors Among an African-American Church-Based Sample
Primary Mentor:
Dr. Lorraine Reitzel, Health Disparities Research
During the CPRTP summer program, I learned the importance of primary prevention.
There are great benefits in promoting primary prevention in communities, and in doing so, we prevent people, particularly those of low socioeconomic status and who lack access to care, from being victims of cancer.
CPRTP Short-Term & Summer Alumni
Alumni at MD Anderson
- Miranda Lee Baum, M.A., Supervisor, Clinical Studies, Behavioral Science
- Karla Crawford, M.P.H., Senior Clinical Dietician, Integrative Medicine Center
- Kpola Elhor-Gbito, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Epidemiologist II, Epidemiology
- Maosheng Huang, Ph.D., Senior Statistical Analyst, Epidemiology
- Lynn Keerikattu, Pharm.D., Pharmacist, Dept. of Pharmacy
- Kathrin Milbury, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Behavioral Science
- Altrivice Revis, M.B.A., Director, COO Operations, Office of Chief Operating Officer
- Stacie Scruggs, M.P.H., Director, Division Research Development, Office of the Vice President of Cancer Prevention
- Maria Chang Swartz, Ph.D., MPH, RD, LD, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics - Research
- Hui Zhao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Health Services Research
Alumni at Texas Institutions
- Austin Brown, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, Hematology-Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine
- Kristina Dahlstrom, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Medicine - Epidemiology and Population Science, Baylor College of Medicine
- Samira Kamrudin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Co-Director MPH Program, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
- David Lopez, Dr.PH, Assistant Professor, Epidemiology, Human Genetics & Environmental Sciences, University of Texas School of Public Health
- Charles Minard, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biostatistician, Baylor College of Medicine
- Melissa Fleschler Peskin, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, Univeristy of Texas School of Public Health
Alumni at Other Institutions
- Eric Chi, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Dept. of Statistics, North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC)
- Adolfo Cuevas, Ph.D., Gerald R. Gill Assistant Professor of Race, Culture and Society, Community Health, Tufts University (Medford, MA)
- Jessica Clague DeHart, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Community and Global Health, Claremont Graduate University (Claremont, CA)
- Henry J. Henderson III, Ph.D., Senior Manager, Medical Science Liaison-Oncology , Foundation Medicine; Adjunct Professor, Biology (Nashville, TN)
- Aditi Hazra, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health (Boston, MA)
- Abisola Idu (Akisole), M.S., M.P.H., Biostatistician, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (Seattle, WA)
- Demetrice Jordan, Ph.D., Research Fellow in Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA)
- Amit Jethanandani, M.D., Resident Physician, Radiation Oncology, University of Miami / Jackson Health System (Miami, FL)
- Julie. A. Lord, M.D., Psychiatrist, Positive Psychiatry Private Practice (Seattle, WA)
- Nynikka Palmer, Dr.PH, M.P.H., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, (Division of General Internal Medicine at SFGH), Urology and Radiation Oncology, University of California San Francisco (San Francisco, CA)
- Siddhartha Roy, DrPH, M.P.H., Assistant Professor, The Pennsylvania State University, Hershey College of Medicine (State College, PA)
- Sarah Rush, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Health Sciences, James Madison University (Harrisonburg, VA)
- Sidish 'Sid' Srinivas Venkataraman, M.D., Resident Physician, Neurological Surgery, Wake Forest University School of Medicine (Winston-Salem, NC)
- Alexandra Willauer, M.D., Resident Physician, Clinical Instructor, Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (Cincinnati, OH)
CPRTP Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Alumni
Read about CPRTP Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Alumni.
Note: As of 2018, the NCI provides funding solely for the CPRTP Summer Research Experience. Our NCI predoctoral fellowship in cancer prevention concluded in 2018. Any future predoctoral fellowship opportunities will be communicated on this website.
Summer Alumni Perspectives
"I came to MD Anderson with a closed mind about my research capabilities, but that changed on the very first day." -Henry Henderson, Ph.D., 2017
"Both of my mentors were kind and taught me a lot about research and clinical care."-Mariana Henry, 2017
"(Originally) Ortho looked the most tantalizing and I didn’t think about Urology, GI, or Pathology! Being here changed all that!"-Noah Choi, 2018
"I've learned a great deal about myself and how I can make an impact in cancer prevention research."-Princess Ekpo, 2018
"(Cancer) Prevention is a mindset and by the end of the summer program, my entire view of cancer and prevention changed!"-Briana Brown, 2018
"My mentors provided guidance and helped me sort through the gray areas that arise when I set up my next stage career goals."-Dee Jordan, Ph.D., 2013
"The CPRTP has empowered me to pursue a career in cancer prevention with an emphasis on health disparities."-Siddhartha Roy, Ph.D., 2015