Associate Director, Cancer Disparities
MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, Charleston, SC
Dr. Marvella Ford holds a dual appointment at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and South Carolina State University (SCSU), a Historically Black College/University (HBCU). At MUSC, Dr. Ford is a Professor of Public Health Sciences and serves as the Associate Director of Cancer Disparities at the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. Dr. Ford was appointed to Professor in the Department of Biological and Physical Sciences at SCSU in 2017.
Dr. Ford’s research focuses on personal and socioeconomic factors impacting cancer screening and detection among underserved and minority populations such as race, gender, and education. She
studies the impact of targeted interventions on health care behavior and methods for improving informed decision making for cancer screening, specifically prostate cancer. Dr. Ford serves as the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on several multi-institution training grants with HBCU’s across the state including SCSU. She has mentored over 30 individuals including undergraduate students and faculty members to develop a cancer education pipeline of scholars to address cancer disparities research and care.
Dr. Ford has authored more than 85 peer-reviewed publications and has served on several boards and committees including the NIH/NCI Symptom Management and Health-Related Quality of Life Steering Committee as a Special Expert Representative in Cancer Disparities Research, the NIH Health Services Organization and Delivery Study Section, the American Association for Cancer Research, South Carolina Cancer Alliance, and the MUSC Faculty Senate.