Health Equity & Cultural Diversity SIG

Our Mission

To advance the knowledge and practice of psychosocial cancer care for all members of society by eliminating barriers to inclusion and alleviating disparities.

To support APOS scientific and program efforts that address health equity, including:

    • To foster awareness of health disparities in cancer, enhancing culturally and socio-ecologically responsive prevention/early detection/quality of life/psychosocial care, and promoting diversity inclusion in our field.
    • To promote research, and clinical and supportive care to identify cancer disparities and promote optimal health related quality of life and survivorship outcomes for all.
    • To develop and evaluate community‐based, culturally informed and clinically‐responsive research methods to enhance recruitment and retention of underserved and ethnic minority cancer populations in behavioral research trials.

To ensure that APOS scientific and program efforts involve a diverse and inclusive group of people

    Meet Our Chairs

    Traci N. Bethea, PhD

    Devika Jutagir, PhD

    Dr. Devika Jutagir is an Assistant Attending Psychologist within the Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She received her PhD in clinical health psychology from the University of Miami, completed a pre-doctoral clinical psychology internship in the Behavioral Medicine Service at Yale University, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in psycho-oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She provides psychological services to adults diagnosed with cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering's Ralph Lauren Center in Harlem, and conducts cancer disparities research to increase access to cancer care and mental healthcare. She has been a member of APOS since 2020, during which time she has been a Health Equity Scholar, has served on the Awards Committee and Mentoring Committee, and has participated in the Mentoring Program as both a Mentor and a Mentee.
    ________________________________________

      Florence Lui, PhD

      Florence Lui, PhD

      Florence Lui, PhD, is an assistant attending psychologist in the Immigrant Health & Cancer Disparities Service in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Her research focuses on developing and adapting evidence-based psychosocial interventions for patients with/at risk of developing cancer and investigating social determinants of mental health and illness.

        We Welcome New SIG Members

         

        One of the APOS member benefits is to join the conversation on Groupsite with any of the 10 Special Interest Groups (SIGs).  This is a very engaging conversation platform and the Executive Office is happy to help you navigate this platform and help you set up your profile to begin networking.