News Center

Participants in this month’s Facts & Faith Fridays left the meeting better informed on a range of subjects, from multiple myeloma to artwork from local artists soon to be seen on mobile health vans in underserved Virginia communities.

Joseph Mikhael, M.D., chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation and professor at the Translational Genomics Research Institute, helped give the audience a better understanding of blood cancers, including multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells that live in the bone marrow.

“[Treatment for] myeloma has radically changed in the last 20 years,” said Mikhael. “When I started working with myeloma 25 years ago, the average patient maybe lived a year or two, now most of our patients live over a decade. We want them to live longer, and we want them to live better.”

Mikhael described the large disparities within the multiple myeloma population: “It’s a relatively rare cancer, but it’s twice as common in African Americans, and sadly the mortality is twice as high in African Americans than white Americans.”

Beyond the standard big-picture drivers of disparity in multiple myeloma – like systemic racism and social determinants of health – Mikhael outlined several disease-specific issues, including delayed diagnoses and lack of access to care among African American populations, as well as a lack of diversity and cultural sensitivity among healthcare professionals.

Mikhael ended his presentation with a call to action to work with the medical community, the lay community and regulatory bodies to help address these influences. “There’s so much work to be done, and we’re blessed at the International Myeloma Foundation to be in a place where we feel we can bring stakeholders together to address at least a considerable number of those drivers. We created M-Power to empower patients and communities to change the course of myeloma.”

Following Mikhael’s presentation, two prominent Richmond street artists, Hamilton Glass and Sir James Thornhill, joined Massey director Robert A. Winn, M.D., and Rudene Mercer Haynes, J.D., for a discussion about a new initiative to help combat cancer in Virginia. “Massey on the Move” mobile health vans, made possible by generous support from Dominion Energy and Bank of America, will be deployed later this year to provide critical cancer education, prevention, screening and care coordination services to Virginians in their own communities.

Glass and Thornhill designed the artwork for the two vans, with the community-based mission as their inspiration.

“Art doesn’t just speak to the community but for and with the community,” said Glass. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime situation to be able to align myself with VCU Massey to get these vans out into the community.”

When asked about his inspiration for the project, Glass said, “It revolves around energy and making people feel bright. Even if you look at this van moving down the street and have no idea what it is, it makes you want to follow it. That was kind of the goal.”

Thornhill credited the idea of movement as his inspiration, and said, “When we come into these diverse neighborhoods, we want people to look at [the health vans] without fear and intimidation, to run up like it’s one of those ice cream trucks,” adding, “I’m thankful that you trusted me to be a part of this process.”

Watch the webinar to learn more about multiple myeloma and the new Massey on the Move initiative. To see the upcoming schedule and register for future Facts & Faith Fridays webinars, visit our website.

Written by: Annie Harris