Carmen Guerra, MD, MSCE is the Ruth C. and Raymond G. Perelman Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the Vice Chair of Diversity and Inclusion for the Department of Medicine and the Associate Director of Diversity and Outreach for the Abramson Cancer Center. Dr. Guerra leads Community Outreach and Engagement for the Abramson Cancer Center. In this role, she leads partnerships with community organizations to design, implement, and evaluate research and interventions to increase the participation of underrepresented populations in cancer screening research and clinical trials at the center.
Dr. Guerra is the PI of several studies aimed at increasing the participation of Black and Hispanic patients in cancer clinical trials, including the development and evaluation of the Abramson Cancer Center Clinical Trials Ambassador Program which provides peer-to-peer education to newly diagnosed breast cancer patients (funded by Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation and Genentech). She is a PI for a multi-site implementation study of the Lazarex Foundation’s Improving Patient Access to Cancer Clinical Trials (IMPACT), a patient financial reimbursement program for cancer clinical trial related travel expenses being conducted at the ACC, MD Anderson and UT Southwestern cancer centers. Dr. Guerra also co-led a national initiative by ASCO and ACCC that produced the first unconscious bias training for cancer researchers, Just Ask, and a site self-assessment instrument to support equity, diversity, and inclusion in clinical trials. Dr. Guerra is currently determining the impact of the Just Ask unconscious bias training in the recommendation of trials by breast cancer research teams.
