Everybody knows somebody who is touched by cancer and everybody seems to have lots of questions about the causes, cures and treatments for the disease. Through his national service to the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Richard Gallagher is helping to provide the most accurate cancer information and educational resources to physicians, health professionals and the general public—a hectic responsibility in the ever-advancing field of cancer research.
Richard E. Gallagher, Ph.D., Wayne State University professor of family medicine, has accepted an invitation to chair the National Cancer Institute Subcommittee G-Education. Subcommittee G sets the scientific and research agenda for cancer education by reviewing training grants, proposed curricular programs and career development applications for scientists and health administrators around the country.
Dr. Gallagher, who is director of the Division of Medical Education in the Department of Family Medicine and adjunct professor at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, is no stranger to National Institutes of Health study sections, having served on them continuously for more than 25 years. He has had a career-long interest and involvement in cancer education at Wayne State University School of Medicine and at the national level. He is an active researcher in the WSU/Karmanos Population Studies and Prevention Program and he is interested in physician training and community health education.
Dr.Gallagher is a pioneer in the teaching of cancer prevention concepts and skills to undergraduate medical students. He has served as the principal investigator on one of five national contracts that was funded in 1979 by the National Cancer Institute to test the feasibility of teaching cancer prevention to U.S. medical students. He is a lifetime fellow and recent past-president of the American Association for Cancer Education.
"Dr. Gallagher is not only a pioneer in the content area of cancer prevention and education, but he has also set the gold standard in delivery methodology and evaluation of education interventions. Ultimately, physicians, patients and communities want to use--and fund--what works. Dr. Gallagher has demonstrated the effectiveness of both new and established cancer education programs and has extended our knowledge to include testing of these programs in diverse populations,"said Maryjean Schenk, M.D., WSU chair of family medicine.
In the letter of invitation sent to Dr. Gallagher, Sonya V. Roberson, Ph.D., the National Cancer Institute scientific review officer assigned to Committee G, noted that Dr. Gallagher was selected for this role because of his particular expertise and insights in methods of learning, instruction, curriculum development, program, evaluation, cancer prevention and community health. Dr. Roberson further noted that the position of study section chair that Dr. Gallagher has accepted will provide him an "incomparable overview of cancer research in educational programs in the United States and will provide an opportunity to shape the nature of cancer education grant reviews."