Title:Equity in cancer prevention

People from underserved communities often experience higher risk rates of certain cancers, challenges accessing care, and lower cure rates. Dedicated to confronting health disparities in cancer detection, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation has made a gift establishing the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Prevention.

This gift extends the foundation’s longstanding partnership with Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, which began in 1989 when Ralph Lauren co-founded the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research.

The Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Prevention, which launched in April 2023, renames and reimagines existing practices of Georgetown’s Capital Breast Care Center, led by the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities Research at Georgetown Lombardi. The reimagined center continues breast cancer screenings and supporting patients across the continuum of care while expanding to colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer—the most common cancers in the Washington, DC, region. Patients may access legal services through Georgetown’s Health Justice Alliance, a partnership between the Medical Center and Georgetown University Law Center.

“Every health system should be working to reduce health disparities,” says Lucile Adams-Campbell, the center’s new leader, who previously oversaw the Capital Breast Care Center and also serves as associate director for minority health and health disparities research at Georgetown Lombardi.

“Georgetown is stepping up and playing a major role in addressing the needs of the community. And hopefully, by addressing those needs, we will begin to mitigate the disparities and move towards equity.”