Francisco Cartujano-Barrera, MD and Natasha D. Sheybani, PhD
The UVM Cancer Center’s Emerging EAB Experience (E3) program enters its second year.
Early career faculty rarely get invited to participate in leadership-related activities within a cancer center. The UVM Cancer Center seeks to change this through its Emerging EAB Experience (“E3”). Launched in 2023, the “E3” program is designed for future leaders who represent groups underrepresented in biomedical science and in cancer center leadership positions across the country such as people who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, first generation college students, and women.
Through a competitive application process, each year two candidates are selected to travel to Burlington, Vt to participate in the external advisory board (EAB) process. As a result of this experience, these junior faculty are further prepared for leadership opportunities related to cancer centers and cancer research in the future.
This year, Natasha D. Sheybani, PhD and Francisco Cartujano-Barrera, MD were selected to participate in the UVM Cancer Center’s External Advisory Board annual meeting on November 11, 2024.
Faculty selected for participation will participate as program reviewers with assignments based on their individual qualifications.
Natasha D. Sheybani, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Research Director at the University of Virginia’s Focused Ultrasound Cancer Immunotherapy Center. The Sheybani Lab’s mission is centered on engineering innovative tools and paradigms that render cancer management less invasive, less toxic, more effective, and more personalized for cancer patients. Central to these efforts is a disruptive emerging platform technology called focused ultrasound (FUS) – which enables non-invasive, non-ionizing, and targeted deposition of acoustic energy into tumor tissues with high spatial precision. Learn more.
Francisco Cartujano-Barrera, MD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and an Assistant Director of the Office of Community Outreach & Engagement at the Wilmot Cancer Institute, a part of URMC. Dr. Cartujano-Barrera conducts community-based participatory research for cancer prevention and control (e.g., tobacco cessation) among underrepresented minorities. Particularly, he has focused on the development and implementation of culturally and linguistically appropriate mobile interventions among Latinos. Cartujano-Barrera also serves as the Director of the Wilmot Cancer Institute Tobacco Cessation Program. Learn more.