Dr. Robert Winn: Your North Star - Episode 8

Dr. Robert Winn, Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Robert Winn. He is the Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and the second Black Director of an NCI-designated cancer center in history. Dr. Winn has a long track record and commitment to both community-engaged research and research focused on eliminating health disparities. He is also passionate about training the next generation of scientists and clinical investigators who come from historically underrepresented communities in medicine. Under his guidance, a $114 million training and education program in partnership with the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation and Gilead Sciences was established in 2021. This program was subsequently & appropriately renamed the Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials Award Program in April 2022. The groundbreaking program is on track to train more than 500 individuals from diverse backgrounds by 2027. We caught up with Dr. Winn after the most recent meeting of the Winn Diversity cohorts to discuss the program, his philosophy & approach to his mission.