Listen in: Valerie Goddard and B. Lee Green
S2 Ep1 Valerie Goddard and Dr. B. Lee Green
Parmvir: Hello dear listeners, we’re glad to have you back for season 2 of Cancer in Our Community, with this first episode to commemorate Juneteenth.
Also referred to as Freedom Day or America's second Independence Day, June 19th 1865 marked the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, and since 2021 it has been a designated federal holiday.
Juneteenth brings the community together through faith-based, educational, civic, and of course cookout-related activities, but after the celebrations are done, the work to achieve equality goes on. And this is true of the need to prevent and cure cancer in the Black and African American community, which is a year-round commitment. So join us to learn more about the innovative ways that Ms. Valerie Goddard, Dr. B. Lee Green, and The George Edgecombe Society are working to tackle health disparities in cancer by working with the local community in our episode “Part of the family”.
Dr. Blue: Hello listeners. Thank you for joining us once again on our brand new season of Cancer in Our Community, where we're having conversations about Black health equity. If you listened to season one, you'll recognize me as Dr. Brandon Blue, an oncologist in the Malignant Hematology Program at Moffitt Cancer Center, and also your podcast host.
Today we have not one, but two special guests. We welcome Ms. Valerie Goddard and Dr. B. Lee Green. How are you both doing today?
Ms. Goddard: Wonderful. Glad to be here with you.
Dr. Green: Doing great. This actually, brings back memories, Valerie?
Ms. Goddard: Yes, it does.
Dr. Green: I don't know if you know this Dr. Blue, but we used to do a radio show together.
Ms. Goddard: Yes.
Dr. Green: So it is like old times.
Ms. Goddard: It is.
Dr. Green: So I'm excited about this.
Ms. Goddard: Yeah. When we came in and when I got that and I saw that, I said, wow, isn't it funny how we're back together again doing this, using this platform to educate the community?
Dr. Blue: Well, I'll tell you, technology probably has changed a little bit, but between podcasts and radio, as long as we're getting the message out to the people, I'm just happy that things have gone full circle.
Ms. Goddard: Absolutely.
Dr. Green: Are you trying to say we're old?
Ms. Goddard: Yeah. Yeah, I think so Lee.
Dr. Blue: Listen, listen, I wouldn't call it old, just seasoned.
Ms. Goddard: I like that seasoned. I'll take seasoned
Dr. Blue: And, you know, wisdom is fully appreciated here on our podcast. So, you know, really one of the important things that we wanted to talk about today is the work that Moffitt does to address what we call health disparities.
Namely how things are affecting people in the Black and African American community. You know, so really what I wanted to do is by start off by asking, as the guests, introduce yourself to the community and to the people so that people actually know who you are and really some way to get to know how we can, you know, kind of open the discussion today.
Dr. Green: I'll start. So I am again, Dr. B. Lee Green and just so fortunate, let me start by saying, fortunate to be at the Moffitt Cancer Center. I've been here for 17 years. The majority of that time, Dr. Blue, I spent, as a vice president that was overseeing all of the public relations, strategic communications, diversity, equity, inclusion, and did a lot of, health disparities, work and again, have been here for over 17 years.
I'm a public health person, so really addressing issues around health behavior. You know, why do we as individuals behave the way we do? Trying to develop interventions to change behavior. Did a lot of work looking at, you know, minorities participating in clinical trials and research studies, looking at trust issues.
I was fortunate to be one of the first individuals to do a major study looking at the impact of the Tuskegee syphilis study and, how people view that study in terms of their decision to participate in clinical trials and research studies, and had the opportunity to do some of that work here at Moffitt.
So, just an incredible organization. I'm glad to be here. And I think more importantly, that this is an organization that really cares about, diversity, equity, inclusion, disparities. We have some incredible folks who are doing this work at Moffitt, and hopefully we can talk a little bit more.
Dr. Blue: Yeah. I'm glad you did that work. And I'll just say that, you know, I know you said it was a while back when you did some of those studies on trust, but trust still comes up today.
Dr. Green: Trust still comes up.
Dr. Blue: And so while you know, I appreciate you for breaking ground, we for sure have to continue that work because it's super important.
All right. Ms. Goddard, do you wanna introduce yourself to the community and to the listeners?
Ms. Goddard: Absolutely. Thank you so much, Dr. Blue. It's a pleasure to be here with you. Again, I am Valerie Goddard and I'm a part of the Moffitt family. Not a researcher, certainly not a clinician. But a part of the Moffitt family. Honored to do so.
I'm honored to serve on the hospital board and now the institute board from our Moffitt Cancer Center, as well as Chair of the George Edgecomb Society. And my journey started here at Moffitt about 11 years ago. And I'm here actually as a result of B. Lee Green. Because we met in the community, I was the chair of the children's board of Hillsborough County a working, improving health outcomes and educational outcomes for children and families.
And there was an event there and I believe I came down and gave greetings on behalf of our organization, and it was there when I met, Dr. Green. And so he invited me to come to Moffitt Cancer Center, and that was the beginning of my journey here at Moffitt. And I'll tell you that what impressed me on that tour, with leadership here was the explanation of pathways.
And in that, Because I'm an educator by trade, I understood the importance of being focused on the unique needs of each individual. And I received that from my very first visit here on Moffitt's campus. That the work that is done here is tailored, it's designed to meet the unique focus medical needs, of each individual. And I could relate to that.
And so my involvement here has been a connector to the community. I think my engagement from day one was to come and to learn and understand how we could make Moffitt accessible to the entire community because it has not always been that that way, at least from a perception perspective.
So I've worked diligently to help form some bridges and connect us with other parts of the community that maybe have been underrepresented here at Moffitt. And so that's kind of what I bring to the table. And I like to say I'm a champion for Moffitt in our community to make sure that we are serving the entire community and especially those areas that have been underrepresented.
Dr. Blue: Yeah, you know, we try to deliver what we call personalized medicine, you know, where really we look at the person as a whole, you know, not as a disease, right? Because you're more than just what a list of diagnoses, right? Yes. You know, there's some places that unfortunately just because of the way they're built or set up, they do, you know, kind of cookie cutter medicine.
If you have a certain type of cancer, you get this type of treatment. But we really try to go a step beyond that and really learn the person and kind of know more about them inside and out. So I appreciate you for recognizing that.
Ms. Goddard: Yes.
Dr. Blue: Because that's really one of the strengths here.
So thank you.
Ms. Goddard: Yes.
Dr. Green: And when she says, she's a part of the Moffitt family, she's truly a part of the Moffitt family. And I say that with all great respect because if there's one person out in the community who is touting this cancer center it is Valerie Goddard. So everywhere she goes, she is talking about the incredible work that is being done here.
And, and a part of, you know our conversation today is gonna be around the George Edgecomb Society.
Ms. Goddard: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Green: And cannot wait for us to get to that part because that's, that's very exciting. It is. And for us to have a community leader, well-respected community leader who's out there talking about this cancer center means a lot.
Dr. Blue: Yeah you know, if that's the case, we'll have to invite you to the cookout, to the family reunion. [Valerie and Lee laugh] You are officially invited. Thank you, Dr. Blue. Alright, we'll have family reunion t-shirts. I'll make sure to get you one.
Ms. Goddard: Alrighty. And what you need me to bring.
Dr. Blue: We'll have to try your mash potatoes.
Ms. Goddard: Or potato salad, right?
Dr. Green: Oooooh. Inside joke.
Ms. Goddard: Inside joke [everyone laughs].
Dr. Blue: Well, fantastic. You know, Dr. Green one of the things that you mentioned earlier was that you made kind of this transition in your career from a researcher to being a part of Moffitt's Leadership. Can you just kind of talk more about that and explain to the people how does one go from studying and learning and really helping people know more about trust and really being, you know, on a ground level of really some cutting edge research to being involved in projects from a system and institutional basis of trying to figure out how do we help people as an institution?
So can you explain people your path and your journey?
Dr. Green: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So I was trained at University of Alabama, and UAB in Birmingham. So I have a dual PhD from those two institutions and had a chance to do some great work around disparities, trust, I talked about clinical trials work as well.
And my career has always been around, in the early days, this is well before the term health disparities came around, it was called minority health. I don't know if you all remember when it was called minority health, but I always share this story because I think it puts all of this into some important context.
When I was working on my PhD at the University of Alabama, I had a faculty member, a professor, my main professor who basically told me when I was sharing with him, I want to do minority health, that's my path, that's what I want to do. And he said Lee there is no future in doing minority health work.
Nobody will publish your papers. You won't be invited to do presentations. None of that. No research. I said, wow. I said, okay. So I changed professors and so that was the easy thing to do.
Ms. Goddard: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Green: And fast forward, today health disparities is one of the most pressing public health issues that we have in this country. And so it's a big deal now, and I finish the story. By saying that, that same professor who told me that it wasn't a thing about six or seven years ago, was running a major minority health research center at a different institution.
Ms. Goddard: Wow.
Dr. Green: And so it was always fun to see him at conferences to tell him, oh, what, what happened to the thing that wasn't a thing?
Ms. Goddard: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Green: And all he could do is laugh. And so I came to Moffitt 17 years ago on a consulting trip and just basically fell in love with the place. And when I got here was doing 50% research, 50% administrative, and just loved what I was doing so much, Dr. Brandon Blue that I ended up sort of transitioning to mostly administrative and did that for the majority of my time here really around D-E and I [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] and did that for a long time, enjoyed every minute of it.
But the last year I decided it's time for me to go back to doing research because there are some things that I still, what do you call, unfinished business?
Ms. Goddard: Yes.
Dr. Green: On the research side, and one of 'em is around the trust piece of it. So I have transitioned now back to a hundred percent research and looking forward to contributing in a different way, although it was a beautiful thing to be on the administrative side, but I'm looking forward to doing my research again.
Dr. Blue: Yeah. You know, it's funny you bring that story up, you know, I actually had a, professor of mine tell me that I shouldn't get involved in health disparities because it's a fad. A nd he was like, yeah. He said, you know, it's the hot thing right now but it'll go away soon. But that was like 10 years ago.
Dr. Green: Wow.
Ms. Goddard: Wow.
Dr. Blue: And as you said, I mean, it's still really an unfinished problem. I mean, unfortunately it's been a problem from the very beginning.
Dr. Green: Yeah.
Dr. Blue: You know?
Ms. Goddard: Yes.
Dr. Blue: And Unfortunately, it just kind of got swept under the rug. And so you know, it's always incredible some of the hurdles and things that people try to put in your way to really kind of deter you from your passion and from your goals.
So I appreciate you for sharing that.
Dr. Green: So, you know, one of the, most important things that I think we have to do as an institution is to make sure that, you know, our clinical trials are diverse. And that was a part of the work that I was interested in because when we looked at the numbers, a lot of minorities were not included or being a part of some of those clinical trials. And so places like Moffitt, other institutions across the country are really trying to hone in on making sure that our clinical trials are diverse. Not only are institutions, but there are major initiatives going on across this country.
One that many of you have probably heard about is called All of Us. And that All of Us program is looking to include over a million individuals, as a part of clinical trials. And their main goal is to make sure that those trials are including diverse individuals. And so if, if you have an opportunity, just go to the website. Go online, look up All Of Us. It's an incredible initiative and I think it's open for, many people just to sign up, as individuals because we need people, particularly minority people, to sign up because the only way we're going to get to the right answers in terms of treatments is to make sure that those trials are diverse.
Dr. Blue: Yeah. You know, me as the doctor taking care of people from really all walks of life, all colors, all backgrounds, you know, sometimes I have to explain to people say, this medicine that I'm going to prescribe was not tested in anybody who looks like you, who was your same age, who was your same background.
And sometimes, you know, that's scary.
Dr. Green: Yeah.
Dr. Blue: You know?
Ms. Goddard: Absolutely.
Dr. Blue: And unfortunately, one thing that a lot of times we have as doctors is science, right? We say, all right, we know the science, we understand it, but if the science isn't tested on people who are representative of the actual disease, then unfortunately that means that the science is probably a little flawed, right?
Ms. Goddard: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Green: Right.
Dr. Blue: And so, we all make up such a rainbow of colors and backgrounds and, it's just unfortunate that the clinical trials just don't look the same. I appreciate you for sharing that.
So, Valerie, now, I know that from a lot of reading about you and, to hear you talk before that, you know, a lot of things that you've brought up before is that you, you know, kind of came from a military family and, you know, you kind of have bounced around and I'm very interested if you could kind of tell the people how you went from being involved very heavily in education and childcare and, bringing up our youth to now being part of the Moffitt family, and being involved with cancer care.
Can you explain to people how you made that leap and that jump?
Ms. Goddard: Yes, I will. And it' s been a journey but there are so many more similarities than dissimilarities in this process. And so my work early on with education, early on in my career was working with, children who had special needs. So there were already uniquenesses. Medically, complicated children, needed to be served. Children of families within the Department of Defense and all of the uniquenesses that come with that. Fast forward here to this community, working primarily in an urban environment, helping to ensure that children that maybe didn't have all the resources and access to education could succeed.
And that's been a lot of my work here. Then I was appointed by three different governors to serve in my role at the children's board. And one of the things that became crystal clear to us there, is that there were different outcomes, whether it be health or education based upon where these children and families lived. That we could tell what their health outcomes and their educational outcomes were by their zip code.
Dr. Blue: Wow.
Ms. Goddard: And Dr. Hu even references now that we can tell health outcomes by these ZIP codes in which our patients live that come to Moffitt. And so we began and established what's called a place-based initiative, which means we began to look systematically in our community at various regions and zip codes and identified strategies, partnerships, and resources to help target outcomes for those children and their families. And so that meant we had a public health approach and we had to enable many stakeholders. A lot of community organizations and approach it from a grassroots perspective as well as systems perspective to really make an impact.
So I see that, the work that I did there, translating to now the work here at Moffitt, because our goal is ultimately to cure cancer. But in order to do that, we have to ensure that our work reaches the community. That early intervention and early screening is available. And so when Lee introduced me to Moffitt, I saw the connection immediately to the work that I had been blessed to do in the community working and leading that initiative with the children's board, to the greater opportunity here at Moffitt to ensure that the, amazing life-changing work is available to all. So my work has expanded beyond education now to include even, you know, health disparities. And the last few years, I've been also addressing another vulnerable population, which is adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities because they too, are vulnerable, and have the same, challenges in receiving the quality healthcare as many other segments of our population do.
So my work has grown now from just maybe focused to now more community focused and interactive. And so I see this having been a bridge now working in this field. I would never, if you had asked me 10 years ago, Dr. Blue would I ever think I'd be working and engaged in healthcare? I would've told you, absolutely not.
But someone had a different plan, and so I see the opportunity to use the skills. And the strategies that work so well in the education now, to be able to be a communicator and a liaison, for healthcare, has been great.
Dr. Blue: I'm sure there are kids who are actually grown up now and adults who have really benefited from some of the programs that you've put in place and probably are better adults today than they would've been if you would not have stepped in and, really tried to champion their cause. So I do tip my hat to you for that. And you know, one thing that I always say is, you know, as a person who sees people from very severe cancers to people, even with pre-cancer, the best treatment that we have is the treatment that the patient can actually get.
Yes. Meaning that, We come up with new strategies or cancer treatment all the time. Yes. But if we can't get it to the people who need it, it's unfortunately not a good treatment.
Ms. Goddard: Absolutely. And Dr. Blue, that is really key is accessibility. And sometimes we have blinders on and we limit ourselves, but what I have found is that we have to think out of the box in terms of creating avenues for people to get access to treatment.
And when we look broadly, And we think creatively, it's amazing what we can do and how we can facilitate, that treatment. And you talk so much about trust. One of the things that I've learned through my work and even working, at the university as we went in and, and helped to turn around some of the schools that were poor performing.
That one of the things that had to be established, first and foremost was trust.
Dr. Green: Mm-hmm.
Ms. Goddard: Trust with those parents, trust that we had the best interest of their children at heart, and then equipping the faculty with the skills that they needed and cultural competence to address those populations.
And my experience is that we still have those very same issues, in healthcare, that we wanna make sure that, we are culturally competent and respectful of those that we serve, and that we are focused on building trust because that really is the foundation to be able to receive the information that is shared with us.
So again, there's so many similarities at the end of the day, as you indicate, we care for people. Right.
Dr. Green: Yeah. Yeah.
Ms. Goddard: If we care for people and that's what we do.
Dr. Blue: Yeah. And I, I'll just say that, you know, as a people, you know, we as Black people and African Americans, you know, we have a reason sometimes not to really trust the system sometimes.
Yes. There's, there's really been some, unfortunate things that have happened to us. Yes. It's not isolated to healthcare, you know, I'll say that, you know, I just remember my, you know, my grandmama going inside the bank because she didn't want to go to the ATM. You know, when she did go to the ATM, she would still count the money, like the ATM would miscount the money.
You know, like, because she had to make sure. Right?
Ms. Goddard: Right.
Dr. Blue: And that's just a level of trust that had nothing to do with healthcare, but you could see how things just kind of trickled down and really kind of evolved in really all areas of life and lifestyle.
Ms. Goddard: Yes.
Dr. Green: But you know, a part of what caused some of that mistrust, particularly around research y'all remember the term helicopter research where you fly in you do your research, you get everything you want to get from the community, then you fly right out and you're done. As opposed to a lot of the work particularly here at Moffitt we're doing now is working directly with the community, not working on the community, but working with them. And developing that sense of trust that we are here as your partner. We're not here you know, to make you better, to you know, do whatever it is that we think we need to do to fix you. But we're working with you. We need to understand what your needs are.
I remember when I was very early on as a researcher, got this small grant and went in to try to collect some data. So I went into this community center had it all worked out, and walked in, was expecting a lot of people there to fill out this survey. Nobody was there. May have been one or two people in the audience.
I'm telling the people where, where is everybody? They're not here because they don't understand what it is that you're trying to do. So I didn't do my work. I was going to fly in, grab what I needed and fly out.
Ms. Goddard: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Green: But what they were saying to me was, we need to understand clearly what it is that you are going to do and what are we going to get out of it. And so until I was able to answer that question, they were not showing up. And that's great for the community to make a decision that: I'm not participating until I clearly understand what it is that you're trying to do not with us, but to us. And so, I mean, this trust thing that, you know, we've talked about is so critically important.
And I know that, we have our community outreach and engagement group here at Moffitt. And a part of their responsibility is to go out into the community so that they know the Moffitt name, they know what Moffitt is all about. They're out there creating trust so that in turn, when somebody has a cancer diagnosis, they've heard the Moffitt name.
Ms. Goddard: Right.
Dr. Green: They have seen the Moffitt people in the community. They are working with the Moffitt people so that if they have a family member who is diagnosed with cancer, Moffitt hopefully will be their first choice. So that trust piece, we cannot overemphasize how important that is.
Dr. Blue: Well, that's kind of the reason for the podcast as well, to try to make sure that we get the word out and we let people know about all the wonderful things that are happening here at Moffitt.
You know, I just want all the listeners to kind of know, just as a recap from season one, that you know, there are certain cancers that unfortunately have worse outcomes for Black and African American community members. And so as someone who has done research about, you know, these types of cancers, Dr. Green, can you just explain a little bit of why these differences are there and what has been done to try to make things better for, you know, the minority population?
Dr. Green: As I said before, this is probably one of the biggest public health issues that we are dealing with as a society right now.
We know that there are some populations who are disproportionately impacted by certain cancers prostate cancer, particularly Black men, breast cancer with Black women, lung cancer. I mean, if you look at, you know, the top cancers Blacks and African Americans tend to have higher rates of those diseases and unfortunately die at a higher rate from some of those diseases.
And how do I put this? That's unacceptable. It is unacceptable and we as a society have to make sure that we are doing all that we can do to address that. Now health disparities is complicated. I think we all know it's a complicated issue because it is multifactorial. There's so many multiple things that may cause it.
Valerie already mentioned it, zip code where people live, what they have access to, their income level, their insurance level, their health behaviors. I always use my grandmother as an example, who died at a early age from diabetes, ended up losing both of her limbs as a result of that.
And I look at her life and wonder how could it have been different so that she didn't die early from diabetes or lose her legs from diabetes and a part of it was that she didn't, and here we go again, she didn't trust doctors so she wouldn't go and get you know, the care that she needed.
Her diet was not great. She didn't exercise. She used tobacco products and so that whole line, the whole list of things that would cause someone to have, you know, higher rates of disease or disorder, she was a classic example of that. And so we have to educate our community in terms of their health behaviors, but it goes beyond education.
We have to make sure that they have the resources that they need in order to make these decisions. I always go back to, remember Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs", you remember that? Y'all who studied that. We cannot get people to their self-actualization until you take care of their basic needs.
Ms. Goddard: That's right.
Dr. Green: If you're not taking care of their basic needs, they're not going to make the decisions that they need to make around their health because they're trying to eat. Trying to get a job, trying to take care of their family, all those basic things. And if you can't take care of that, how are you going to get them to go and exercise on a day-to-day basis or do the things that they need to do?
Go and get a screening if they are just trying to figure out: how am I going to get my kid to daycare? How am I going to feed my family? How am I going to get myself out of this location where we live in this poor neighborhood where there may be crime happening? And so we have to make sure that people have their basic needs taken care of.
Dr. Blue: You know, I think that's one of the things that we're always trying to learn more about, you know, we see that these differences are there, but is it nature or nurture? Meaning that, like is it something inherent about people's biology or DNA that has been passed down from their grandmama to them and their parents?
Or is it the environment and some of these changes? You know? So I think more research is definitely being needed.
Ms. Goddard: Yes.
Dr. Green: Yeah.
Dr. Blue: And you know, and I think this would be a good time for us to bring up how the George Edgecomb Society is really helping understand how these differences are there. And for the listeners, they may have never heard of the George Edgecomb Society. So you know, Valerie as the, chairwoman of the steering committee, can you maybe shed some light on what is this society, why was it created and what is it doing to help?
Ms. Goddard: Well, it is amazing work that is being done through the George Edgecomb Society and just to give our listeners, a little information, it's called the George Edgecombe Society because George Edgecomb was the first Black judge in Hillsborough County, and he was diagnosed very young in his thirties with cancer. At the prime of his life, amazing, profession, doing amazing work in our community and was struck down by cancer. And so what's interesting about his journey is he was a friend of H. Lee Moffitt, the founder of Moffitt Cancer Center, one of his very, very dear friends, and in a matter a short timeframe, Lee Moffitt lost, I believe it was three friends to cancer.
Dr. Green: Mm-hmm.
Ms. Goddard: And during a very short timeframe. And, George Edgecombe was one of his dearest friends, so he was determined as the speaker of the house, in the Florida legislature that he was going to do something about it, and thus, we sit here today at Moffitt Cancer Center, as a result of his advocacy. One man championed this cause, mobilizing the legislature to take action, created Moffitt Cancer Center.
So we think it's fortuitous that Ms. Edgecomb so graciously, said yes to the request to name the George Edgecomb Society after her husband. But what it's done is it's fueled our work and this enabled us to address and focus on addressing, cancer, health disparities in the African American population.
So our focus is unique. From inception with B. Lee Green. We knew we were taking on a big task, but we were committed that we were gonna devote our time, energy, and efforts to ensure that we were, being a mouthpiece, a voice in the community regarding cancer health disparities, and the focus was different.
We were going to mobilize community connections to raise the resources to specifically fund research that was targeted. And focused on addressing cancer health disparities. So the George Edgecomb Society is made up of community leaders and corporations. There's a health equity component where we have businesses now who are joining with us, to help address this issue in our community.
And so we, each year, award grant awards to researchers right here at Moffitt Cancer Center. And those grant awards enable them to focus on very specific and targeted projects that are, cancer health disparity, areas of focus, and amazing outcomes have come as a result of these seed grants because, those grants have been used to garner even larger research grants, particularly Dr. Yamoah, with regards to prostate cancer. And so we've seen promising research and new developments evolve. So we like to say this isn't business as usual. That we are focused on increasing the amount of grant awards that we can award as well as mobilizing our community and the corporate community to support us in this work.
Dr. Blue: Now, you know, that's something very different than what typically happens. So typically, and I'll just say this as a doctor and as a researcher, typically when we need money for research, we're actually talking to other scientists, but it sounds like the George Edgecomb Society has members on their committee that are not scientists and actually people from the community who listen to these researchers pitch their idea and say: Hey, this is what I'm doing to really help improve those disparities, within certain communities. Now, can you both talk about why this change of not necessarily having scientists, but actually people from the community is a good idea and really how that has kind of changed really how the research is being funded?
Dr. Green: Yeah, that's a great question. I'm glad you asked that because the mechanism goes through three levels of review. So Moffitt has its own internal grant review for internal grants, and so all of the George Edgecomb projects go through that internal mechanism, which is a beautiful thing because we don't have to recreate the wheel. We already have a mechanism at Moffitt that does it, and does it well. So those grants go through and they get the same rigorous review that all the other grants at Moffitt get. And that's number one. And that's critically important because we don't want the George Edgecomb projects to just go through the system without getting that rigor that all the other grants get.
So that's number one. Then there's a second review by the George Edgecomb Research committee that's led by Dr. Clement Gwede and Dr. Susan Vadaparampil. So they lead a group, which I'm a part of that group where we look at the first review and make a determination of those grants that will move forward to get to the George Edgecomb Committee.
So once we do that, then we go to the committee to say, here are the, you know, six or seven grants that made it through the review process. Now we need your help to select the ones that you feel like the community would connect to more.
And so we do the presentation for that group, they take a look, and then Valerie and her group will make a determination of the number of grants that we will fund that particular round. She said something very important. And that is we wanna fund more. We get some great projects in we can't fund them all. But it's so important for us to continue to push, to get more money because there are a lot of researchers here at Moffitt who want to do this work but don't have that seed funding that they need in order to get it done.
So, you know, if there's anything, the community as they're listening to this, we want you to know more about George Edgecomb. We want you to help us raise money in the community so that we can get more money in the hands of our researchers.
Ms. Goddard: And there's another component. That is our focus generating, you know, the grants because it is life changing, the work that's being done.
But Dr. Blue, one of the other things that we focused on was the community connection. And from inception, we were intentional about engaging the community. And one of the things that I'll share, we learned when we had an event. One of our first events we actually had here on Moffitt's campus, and we did a widespread outreach to the community to invite community leaders and everyone to come to this event.
It was a phenomenal event right here on Moffitt's campus. What we learned was so rich. There were people when they walked in, Dr. Blue. They were just looking in amazement because we were over at Stabile [Research Building]. Just the facility and as they learned about what was here on Moffitt's campus, and there were some of them that were in their senior years and they were amazed because they had never ever been on Moffitt's campus.
And so that was very telling for us that they appreciated for the first time in their lives to have an invitation to come to Moffitt's campus. So we recognized that we needed to be intentional about engaging the community in a real concrete way, and inviting them to our campus to see and appreciate that they were welcome here, and that act alone opened doors of accessibility to the community. And I'll share this even about my first time here, even though I was really involved doing a lot of things until I had the invitation to come tour Moffitt, I had never been on Moffitt's campus either. And so I tell that story to say that now I'm intentional.
We are intentional about having events here, so that we can demonstrate that this is a welcoming environment for everyone, and that goes towards building those community relationships and building trust. And George Edgecomb society is, committed to continuing that work as well.
Dr. Blue: Yeah. You know, I'll ask you guys both this because it's something that has come up in both of the things that you guys have talked about was this sense of, you know, community.
But, you know, Moffitt is, you know, in hospital, it's a research center. Why is it important for a hospital or a research center to engage with the community? Like what is it about the community and a hospital and research center that that would make us need to do this type of connection?
Dr. Green: You know, I'll start. It is for me simply because we are here as servants for the community. And we need to make sure that we clearly understand what the needs are of the community so that we can best support those needs for the community. It also goes back to the topic we talked about before, is trust.
The only way we're gonna build that trust is if we're working directly with the community. And so, as Valerie talked about, inviting the community in which have never been here before, was important for them because they have never been invited before. And that is critically important, as the more we can do that, the better.
Now, certainly we have to go out into the community, we have to go where they are, but oftentimes it's good to invite them into your space so that they can see. When I first got here 17 years ago. Wow. That's been, wow, 17 years. I did a, community talk and one of the men in the audience raised his hand and said, you know Dr. Green, I appreciate you being here but you know, I don't think I will ever go to Moffitt and get my care there. He said, Moffitt is a place where people like me just probably wouldn't go to get their care. And the reason he said that was he said, because when I drive by, I see all of these fancy cars driving into the cancer center. And he said, there's no way I'm gonna drive my old, you know, jalopy car up into Moffitt, because it looks like a place where the rich people go and get their cancer care. I just wouldn't feel comfortable there.
Well, he wouldn't know that if he never, you know, really came on campus to see the type of people who are here, and the type of care that we provide. And so to Valerie's point, inviting them here so they can actually experience who we are as an organization is very, very important because there are those perceptions that they have and, and they're gonna have those perceptions until our community outreach folks dispels those myths and those perceptions. And one way of doing that is inviting them here so that they can experience it for themselves.
Ms. Goddard: Dr. Blue shout out to you and all the other diverse faculty that we have. It's important for our community to see you all.
Dr. Green: Yeah. Absolutely.
Ms. Goddard: To see that there are doctors and clinicians, and nurses and that our Moffitt family, our Moffitt team is diverse because otherwise, they don't think that they belong sometimes.
And to be able to see you, to engage with you creates a welcoming sense of I belong here. And a similar story I received. I was talking with someone in the community and they said:
"you know, they have that, what is that? Where you take your car. Where take your car."
I said, "the valet?"
"Yes!"
And I said, "let me explain to you why we have that. I said, that's part of our service, they're part of our care team too. And I said, you know, if you're not feeling well, and if you've just had treatment. I said, our goal is to keep you safe here. So the reason the valet is [there is] because they can help you out of your car and help ensure you get there safely."
I said, "and help you in your car."
"Oh, I didn't understand that."
I said, "yes ma'am. They're part of our care team and that's part of their role here."
So to be able to explain that and then to happen to see that
Dr. Green: Yep.
Ms. Goddard: Now someone can exhale and realize, okay. And the other thing is to recognize that this is the best place I tell people, all we do here 24/7 is cancer care. And so if you come here, you're going to get, you know, informed and accurate information and that the team here is gonna take the time and explain things to you. So I agree with Lee, this is two-pronged approach.
We definitely need to be in the community. But we certainly also need to extend and open our doors wide to ensure that the community has access to come on campus as well.
Dr. Blue: Now, you know, Valerie, I'll, I'll, I'll ask you this question because you've seen some of the behind the scenes of Moffitt.
Ms. Goddard: I have.
Dr. Blue: You have really been involved with the clinic aspect. You've been involved with the research aspect. You've been involved with even going out into the community and doing outreach. You know, was there maybe something that most excites you or something that you're most, you know, excited about when it comes to Moffitt, out of all those things that you've seen, like is there one thing where you're like, man, Moffitt really does this thing really well and that makes me happy and, and I'm happy to be a sounding board for that.
Ms. Goddard: Wow. Boy, you know, we don't have enough time for me to go Dr. Blue with regards to that.
But I will tell you that what I have experienced, from a board perspective, as well as, grateful, family member perspective is the compassionate professional care of the entire Moffitt team. And so that includes our doctors and everyone from the nurses, the medical assistants, everyone, every step of the way.
And so I say that because, my father is currently a patient here. So when you say I've seen the behind the scenes, I have seen the behind the scenes, from every aspect from urgent care to surgical to, blood draw. [Valerie laughs] To chemo. All of that I have witnessed firsthand and I am proud to say that the, passion and the compassion shown, is overwhelming.
There is no place that I would rather have my family cared for if they had needed that than being right here at Moffitt. And it sounds maybe cliche to say it, but you have to experience it here. And I would say that's what I communicate most.
You're gonna get the best possible care. One, because they're passionate about the work. And two, because the science, the technology, and the research that we have here at Moffitt is top-notch. And so if you get both of those: compassionate care, focused care, personalized care, as well as the best access to available research that we may have, you are in a win-win situation coming to Moffitt.
Dr. Blue: Yeah. You know, I appreciate you both for really kind of excellent discussion today about, you know, some of the things that Moffitt is able to do, some of the not known things that people may have never even heard of that's actually happening right here on our campus. You know, but because we talked about so many things, we wanna leave our listeners with at least maybe one take home point and say, if you don't hear anything else, out of all the stuff that we've said, you know, I want you to at least grab onto this message.
And so, you know, Lee, do you have something that our listeners to say, Hey, they may fast forward or rewind, slow down, but they're listening at this part because this is one thing that is very important for them to understand.
Dr. Green: Well, this answer is a very biased answer, so, I'm coming clean from the very beginning and that answer is, we would love your support of the George Edgecomb Society. And I always say this, every dollar counts, and so we're not looking at, you know, certainly we take $50,000 checks, a hundred thousand, we take all those beautiful; but if you only have $25, and you want to support this work that's going on, that $25 can go a long way. if we add all those up, if you know, many many people in the community contributed, you know, small amounts, it adds up big time. And so we would love to have the community understand more about George Edgecomb, what it is that we're trying to accomplish, and to be supporters of this initiative because we have not been able to find, and it could exist, but we have not been able to find any other program like this anywhere in the country.
And so to be a part of that, we would love for the community to be a part of that. And we have some great supporters now, but we can always use more.
Dr. Blue: Valerie?
Ms. Goddard: And I would piggyback off of it by saying that yes, absolutely, support and champion our work with the George Edgecomb Society. At the end of the day, we want to improve health outcomes for African American people. And so I guess my challenge would be, you've heard us talk about Moffitt, share about Moffitt. If you have questions, if you're having health challenges, if you have a diagnosis, if you're concerned, or if you're scared about anything you may have heard, we invite you and encourage you to come and just ask the questions.
You don't have to have it all sorted out and come scared. Come face the unknown. You know, marshall a little courage and come, because there are people here who care about you. And we wanna see you get the care that you need, you and your loved ones and your family. So we invite you and I admonish you. You know, even if you not sure, come. Because our goal is not to know it all. You step foot on Moffitt's campus and we are here to guide you through it all.
Dr. Green: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Blue: I appreciate that, and that was very well said, so listeners, if you can, can take home those two messages, trust me, you would be really doing yourself, really a big favor because again, we're only here to help and we just need the community to be with us in this journey.
So, you know, you two are almost like everyday superheroes, but even,
Dr. Green: I don't know about that.
Dr. Blue: I'm just telling you, even Superman sometime had to take the cape off and go to work, you know. But when it's all said and done and you know, lights dim down and you know, you guys are really trying to unwind, you gotta tell the listeners a little something about yourself so they can kind of know who Dr. B. Lee Green is and who Valerie Godard is. What would be something that you guys do?
Dr. Green: I'm gonna let you go first [everyone laughs].
Dr. Blue: Tell the listeners they wanna know what, what do you do to wind down? Let your hair down.
Ms. Goddard: Yeah, yeah.
Dr. Blue: Tell the people something about yourself.
Ms. Goddard: Wow, golly! That's a, now that's a, that's a loaded question, Dr. Blue.
I love quiet time, which is rare. So for me to have quiet, a long bath and candles and just quiet, meditation is a treat. And I love music. So, to be able to listen to jazz or something else. And good gospel, I have to tell you, that fuels my soul, is my way of winding down and releasing. And so, because I can do that in the car, in the quiet, right? On a, just a drive. But those are the things that, I cherish quiet time because, those moments are time of refreshing.
Dr. Blue: Now we'll give you an opportunity to sing a little bit of that if you wanted to [everyone laughs].
Ms. Goddard: That's okay. Dr. Blue.
Dr. Blue: Next time. Next time. That'll be on the next episode.
Ms. Goddard: That's okay.
Dr. Blue: And Dr. Lee?
Dr. Green: Wow, see I made a mistake by allowing her to go first [Valerie and Brandon laugh] because my answer is not so eloquent. You know what? Wow. I made a mistake. So I like to play golf. And certainly I can't go and play, you know, 18 holes every day, but oftentimes, when I've had a tough day, I'll just go to the driving range and, you know, whoever face I need to put on the ball I put [Valerie and Brandon laugh]. I'm kidding, I'm kidding.
But it's a great opportunity just to, release a lot of, you know, stress. And anxiety just to go out there and just beat up on that golf ball. So that's, typically at... I wish mine could have been,
Ms. Goddard: I don't know, I think I need to take up golf [everyone laughs].
Dr. Blue: I say you would hate to see me play, so I'm still at the putt putt stage.
Dr. Green: Oh wow.
Ms. Goddard: Oh, the same. That's about far as far as I can go too.
Dr. Blue: I'm working my way up. Well, listen, you know, thank you all.
I just wanna say that, and that's really it for our podcast today, this episode, but just want people to know that this is a new season, so there'll be more episodes to come. But I do thank you both for spending some time to really shed some light on a very, very important topic and all the work that you do at Moffitt Cancer Center and with the community.
Dr. Green: Absolutely.
Thank you for having us.
Ms. Goddard: Absolutely. Thank you.