Health Policy
Cancer Treatment Research
Faculty in the Division of Health Policy are engaged in policy and epidemiologic studies of cancer and its care. The goal of their research is to improve outcomes, reduce disparities, and influence health policy to improve cancer screening and treatment.
Madelon L. Finkel, PhD, an epidemiologist and Professor of Clinical Public Health, has extensively studied and written about health policy issues, including women’s health and policy recommendations for breast cancer screening.
Dr. Finkel wrote Understanding the Mammography Controversy: Science, Politics, and Breast Cancer Screening (Praeger Press, 2005) to help women make informed decisions about mammograms. Her book explores the controversy surrounding mammography, examining issues such as how breast cancer develops, how valid the screenings are, if and at what age women should begin to be screened, and how frequent the screenings should be. It also discusses the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of different screening methods, explains how women can see federal reports on mammography facilities, and presents a time line showing changing public advice on mammography across the years.
Dr. Finkel is presently collaborating with colleagues at the Christian Medical College and Hospital in Vellore, India. In March 2007 she traveled to Vellore to initiate a cervical and breast cancer screening program in rural India. Cervical cancer is the number one cause of cancer mortality among women in India. It is hoped that a low-tech screening program utilizing trained public health nurses to visually inspect the cervix, coupled with an educational program, will reduce the incidence of this deadly disease.
Elena Elkin, PhD, is an Assistant Attending Outcomes Research Scientist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and an Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Division of Health Policy at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Elkin's primary research interest is evaluating the determinants of breast cancer screening, treatment and outcomes using methods of population-based observational data analysis and decision analysis. Dr. Elkin is currently studying the relationship between the availability of mammography resources and mammography utilization, with a particular focus on geographic and racial disparities in access to and use of mammography. Her other research interests include the economic and quality-of-life impact of cancer treatment, economic implications of targeted cancer therapies, the effects of economic incentives and barriers to care on variations in cancer treatment, and the clinical decision-making process from both patient and provider perspectives.
