Facts & Faith Fridays
Massey invites you to join national experts and community leaders for a monthly conversation around science and religion as we work to enhance the lives of people in our communities.
Bridging faith and science in the community
Facts & Faith Fridays is a partnership between VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center and the African American faith-based community. Led by community leaders, Rudene Mercer Haynes, Rev. F. Todd Gray, and Robert A. Winn, M.D., the program was founded in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Facts & Faith Fridays recognizes that faith leaders are trusted sources of accurate information and act as ambassadors for their communities.
Facts & Faith Fridays participants together can work to enhance the lives their communities through participating in ongoing dialogues around:
- COVID-19 & vaccine distribution;
- Systemic racism and health inequity;
- Cancer risks & prevention;
- Medical myths and mistrust; and
- Health resources in urban & rural communities.
For inquiries regarding this program, please email us at mccfactsfaith@vcu.edu.
Previous programs
Expand the accordions below to explore previous Facts & Faith Fridays programs.
In a world where headlines, hashtags and AI-generated content flood our screens, discerning what's true has never been more important - or more complex. In this session we will explore and learn from Lisa Mangenello on how we can be better equipped to navigate today's digital landscape with wisdom, integrity and a commitment to truth.
About the Speaker: Lisa Manganello has been a librarian at South Brunswick High School for the past seventeen years, where she was recognized as Educator of the Year in 2015. An active member of the New Jersey Association of School Librarians, Lisa presents regularly on information literacy. Recent presentations include Now What?: Information Literacy Lessons for the High School Library, Diverse Readers, Diverse Books: New Titles to Build a Culture of Reading, and Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Information Literacy with your Librarian. In January 2024, she published an article titled “Information Literacy begins in your school library” in NJEA Review Magazine. Partnering with Dr. Joyce Valenza, Professor of Information Science at Rutgers University, Lisa helped to develop the New Jersey Open Library Tour (NJOLT) to give pre-service and practicing librarians opportunities to visit and learn from their colleagues throughout the state. She is passionate about sharing her information literacy lessons with other educators and spotlighting the value of school librarians. She has also served as a part-time lecturer at Rutgers University, where she helped to develop a course on school library climate and culture.
Monica Brown, WHNP-BC and Erika N. Brown, RN both speak about the limitations and pain points in endometrial cancer and the increase in rates compared to other cancers.
Danielle Green, a VCU Health patient who underwent two minimally invasive surgeries – including one with a robot – and successfully donated her kidney and part of her liver. Dr. Thelma Ramsey-Bryant, serves as principal of John L. Costley Middle School in East Orange, New Jersey, tackling middle school literacy gaps. Dr. Ramsey-Bryant and her team have worked to make remedial reading tasks feel age-appropriate and to identify connections to student behavior.
Dr. James N. Weinstein, who joined Microsoft in July 2018 as Senior Vice President, Microsoft Health, leading strategy and innovation and today, leads global health access efforts, discussed the role of AI in Healthcare and how the tool can inform care for providers and patients.
Alicia Collier and Mindy Fast led the Greater RVA Multiple Myeloma Support Group. Facts & Faith Fridays Founders and leaders Dr. Robert Winn, Director VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, Rudene Mercer Haynes J.D, Founder FFF, and Rev. Dr. Herbert Ponder, FFF Clergy Coordinator, Pastor, Mount Tabor Baptist Church. People learned more about the Greater RVA Multiple Myeloma Support Group & M-Power Richmond. People heard from FFF founders and leaders Dr. Robert Winn, Rudene Mercer Haynes, and Rev. Dr. Herbert Ponder.
Dr. David P. Turner, PhD - Dr. Turner is a cancer survivor and scientific researcher. He is interim Co-Director of Community Outreach and Control for the Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center and Vice-Chair of Research and Innovation for the Dept Surgery at VCU. He completed his Honors Science Degree in Molecular Biology and Doctorate in Biochemistry at the University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom. Dr. Turner is committed to engaging with the community and today will discuss a different approach to demystifying how diet and lifestyle can influence cancer prevention, treatment and survivorship.
January's Facts & Faith Fridays featured VOICES of Black Women principal investigators Alpa Patel, Ph.D. and Lauren McCullough, Ph.D., M.S.P.H. The pair highlighted work from the groundbreaking initiative led by the American Cancer Society.
November's Facts & Faith Fridays helped inspire and equip faith communities with must-have information on brain health. The session featured Faika Zanjani, PhD, BGSA, director of the VCU Richmond Brain Health Initiative and Andrea Price, MPD, MBA, a project specialist at the Virginia Center on Aging.
October's Facts & Faith Fridays gave attendees insight into the factors driving health disparities as they relate to the 2024 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Cancer Disparities Progress Report. The session featured Brian Rivers, Ph.D., M.P.H., who also shared updates from the National Advisory Council on Minority Health.
On the highly attended Facts & Faith Fridays event hosted by Massey and faith leaders in late September, National Institutes of Health director Monica Bertagnolli, M.D., recalled the pivotal moments of her journey to becoming the director. Bertagnolli shared how bringing research to the community is a primary focus of the NIH, as well as her personal experience as a cancer patient.
Hear firsthand from Vice Chairman of the Board of the Virginia Department of Elections, Rosalyn Dance, how you and members of your community can be prepared to VOTE during the 2024 elections.
For more information, visit:
During National Minority Donor Awareness Month, Massey welcomed back Dr. Saeed, the Kidney Transplant Surgical Director at VCU Health's Hume-Lee Transplant Center.
CancerLINC executive director Julianne Duvall and Kandra Brown, Early Childhood Navigator with the Virginia Department of Education, share vital resources available to Virginia families for cancer, and early childhood education and childcare.
VCU Department of Psychology professor Shawn Utsey, Ph.D., returned to FFF to discuss his documentary, The Central Lunatic Asylum for the Colored Insane.
Muhammad "Irfan" Saeed, M.D. from VCU's Hume-Lee Transplant Center talks about the importance of minority donors, and hear from a living kidney donor.
Javon Burton, Executive Director for the Partnership for Housing Affordability; Greta J. Harris, President and CEO of the Better Housing Coalition; and Tyrone Nelson, M. Div, from Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church, discusses community partnerships and creative solutions that address the affordable housing crisis.
NIH's All of Us Research Program is inviting one million people across the U.S. to help build one of the most diverse health databases in history. We will hear from Karriem Watson, DHS, MPH, and his team about how our biology, lifestyle, and environment affect our health.
For more information, please visit:
Sadeqa Johnson will discuss her book Yellow Wife - the story follows an enslaved woman forced to barter love and freedom while living in the most infamous slave jail in Virginia (which is located steps away from the Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center.) Dr. Utsey will discuss the impacts of race-related stress on the physical, psychological and social well-being of African Americans.
For more information, please visit:
Join Dr. Luni Emdad, who will discuss the science of pancreatic cancer. Also, we take a look at the Year in Review and learn together about how to care for ourselves and others during the holiday season.
Michael E Wechsler, MD, MMSc, Professor of Medicine and National Jewish Health Director for the NJH Cohen Family Asthma Institute, and Sesha Joi Moon, Ph.D, Executive Director of The JXN Project led a conversation about asthma and the JXN project.
On the heels of back to school, superintendents and safety & security team leaders from across the commonwealth conducted a roundtable discussion on school safety.
For more information, please visit:
This month's Facts & Faith Fridays call focused on helpful tips from Samantha Guild of the AIM at Melanoma Foundation and local resources for Black college students interested in exploring higher education opportunities through a Mechanicsville-based nonprofit organization, Sub:Culture, Inc.
For more information, please visit:
- Aim At Melanoma Foundation
- SUB: CULTURE INC
- Website includes information about programs such as HBCU Food Pantry Initiative, Student Transition & Crisis Relief, To & Through College Prep Seminars, Fellows Program, etc.
- Phone: 804-214-6505
We want to hear from you!
Have an idea for a guest speaker? Want to provide feedback? Want to get more involved with the Facts & Faith Fridays program?
Please contact us at mccfactsfaith@vcu.edu.
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