04/21/2023
Our Division would like to recognize the work of Lesa R. Felton, an undergraduate student in the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) Biomedical Sciences program and a 2023 participant in the CDU/UCLA Undergraduate Cancer Research Training Program (UCRTP).
Recently, Lesa attended the 2023 Student National Medical Association’s (SNMA) Annual Medical Education Conference (AMEC) held in Hartford, Connecticut.
Lesa Felton was selected to showcase her research she began over the summer for UCRTP during the 2023 Wilbert C Jordan Research Forum. This highly competitive forum provides medical students conducting research to present their groundbreaking research during the Annual Medical Education Conference. Lesa was among a handful of undergraduate students chosen to present. Ms. Felton presented, “Understanding Barriers of Minority Patients Participating in Cancer Clinical Trials: A Systematic Literature Review of Barriers and Strategies.”
In addition, Ms. Felton was selected to participate in SNMA’s highly competitive 2022-2023 Regional Alliance of Leadership Development (RALD) for Region 1, where she was introduced to the inner workings of the organization and attended professional development workshops to prepare Lesa for national leadership position. As a result of her outstanding performance in RALD, Ms. Felton was invited to participation in the highly coveted National Leadership Academy, an intense, day-long program that is a precursor for successful matriculation to the National Future Leadership Program; a unique pipeline initiative with the goal of preparing new leaders to address important issues in medical education and underserved communities by implementing innovate programs to address health disparities. Lesa presented her project, “Increasing Social Media Engagement Among Region 1.” The project yielded an impressing 83% increase in social media engagement!
Lesa credits the unwavering support of her mentors, Jay Vadgama, PhD, Vice President for Research and Health Affairs at CDU, Yanyuan Wu, MD, MS, Rev. Joe H. Waller, PhD, and the CDU/UCLA Cancer Center Partnership to Eliminate Cancer Health Disparities.
We are immensely proud of her accomplishment and look forward to her continued growth as a champion for health disparities and minority representation in clinical trials!
