Lecture Honors Longtime Leader in Battle to Improve the Health of South Carolina

A respected leader in the battle against cancer among minorities and the medically underserved delivered the first James A. Clyburn Lecture at the University of South Carolina.

Dr. Lovell A. Jones

Dr. Lovell A. Jones, director of the Center for Research on Minority Health at the University of Texas, spoke in the auditorium of the Arnold School’s Public Health Research Center, to an audience of about 200 people.

The lecture series honors U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., who has served South Carolina’s Sixth Congressional District since 1993. The Sumter native was an active member of the 1960s civil rights movement and was S.C. Human Affairs Commissioner from 1974-1992. He currently is House Majority Whip for the 110th Congress.

Dr. Saundra Glover, Arnold School associate dean for health disparities and social justice, said the lecture series is a “joint initiative between Claflin University and the Institute for Partnerships to Eliminate Health Disparities at the University of South Carolina. Its purpose is to bring together researchers and public health professionals in an interactive forum to discuss ways and means to eliminate the public health disparities that continue to plague South Carolina and the rest of the nation.”

Glover, who also is director of the Institute for Partnerships to Eliminate Health Disparities, said the continuing series will, in turn, touch on disparities facing South Carolina’s minority residents including cancer, stroke, obesity, HIV/AIDS and high blood pressure.

Clyburn, along with Sen. Ernest F. Hollings, D-S.C., helped secure funding to establish the Institute for Partnerships to Eliminate Health Disparities in 2003.

“His commitment to the elimination of health disparities is long-standing. Hence, the naming of the lecture series in honor of his service to the health needs of the people of South Carolina, the Southeast and the nation,” said Glover.

Jones’ efforts in combating cancer in minorities complements “an area of research strength of the health sciences at USC and an area where we have made significant efforts to join with community stakeholders to begin to focus on solutions,” Glover said.

Jones, whose research center is part of the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, is the founding co-chair of the Intercultural Cancer Council, the nation’s largest multicultural health policy group focused on minorities, the medically underserved and cancer.

He has edited “Minorities & Cancer,” one of the few comprehensive textbooks on this subject. He is the founding chair of “Minorities, the Medically Underserved and Cancer,” the nation’s largest multicultural conference which provides a forum for exchanging the latest scientific and treatment information.

This biennial conference brings together people from all ethnic communities and social strata to share strategies for reducing the incidence of cancer among these populations. Jones also has spearheaded regional hearings on cancer and the poor for the American Cancer Society.

In 2002, Jones, along with Dr. Armin Weinberg, the other cofounder of the Intercultural Cancer Council, received the Humanitarian Award from the American Cancer Society.

Between 1980 and 2007, Jones received more than $20 million in research funding for studies in which he was the principal investigator.

To commemorate James A. Clyburn Day at the Arnold School, James A. Clyburn was presented a silver tray by Arnold School Interim Dean Dr. Tom Chandler.