UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center Magazine Fall 2015 | Page 6

Mona Fouad, M.D., M.P.H.

Isabel Scarinci, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Senior Advisor to the Director
Professor and Director, Division of Preventive Medicine
Director, Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center

OPENING DOORS, BREAKING THROUGH

“You have to
have a passion
for what you
do. I love my
work, and every
day I’m excited
by the day
ahead. Women
should not be
discouraged by
thinking ‘I can’t
do it’ because
there are ways to
find support.”

8

U A B

Mona Fouad, M.D., M.P.H., has seen many
changes during her nearly 25 years at UAB –
especially for women.
“When I first started, there were very few
women, even in leadership positions,” she says.
“At one time, all the Cancer Center’s associate
directors and program leaders were men. [Center
director] Dr. [Albert] LoBuglio saw that lack
of diversity in our leadership, and he asked if I
would co-lead the cancer prevention and control
program with Dr. [Ed] Partridge. Since my first
grant was from the Cancer Center, I thought that
was a great opportunity.”
Dr. Fouad began her career at UAB as a
research fellow in the Division of Preventive
Medicine, and today, she serves as director of
that very division. Originally from Egypt, she
came to the United States when her husband
accepted a position in the UAB School of
Engineering. Because she had always been more
interested in prevention and wellness, one of
Dr. Fouad’s first research projects focused on
cardiovascular disease prevention among hourly
workers in the city of Birmingham. Specifically,
she was interested in high-risk populations such
as firefighters, police officers, and street and
sanitation employees.
“The police and firefighters led a very stressful
life, so they had high rates of smoking and high
blood pressure,” Dr. Fouad says. “The majority of
the street and sanitation employees were AfricanAmericans who had high rates of heart disease,
smoking, diabetes and high blood pressure. They
felt there was no importance or hope of how
to manage their health. That’s how I became
interested in minority populations and developing
interventions to address these risk factors.”
Health disparities research was a young field
at the time, but one that was growing, particularly
for those interested in cancer. Dr. Fouad began
developing programs tailored to cancer prevention
and control, and her mentor suggested she meet
with Dr. Partridge, who was working on similar
research projects in that area. “I attended one of
his community meetings and then knocked on his
door with an idea for a grant. The rest is history,”
Dr. Fouad recalls.

C O M P R E H E N S I V E

C A N C E R

C E N T E R

Over the years, Dr. Fouad and her team have
built the Cancer Center’s prevention and control
research program into a robust and dynamic
enterprise that generates millions of dollars in
grant funding annually for UAB. The program
has expanded across Alabama and Mississippi,
and now through the UAB Minority Health and
Health Disparities Research Center (of which Dr.
Fouad is the founding and current director), UAB
is not only eliminating health disparities among
minority populations, but also training the next
generation of minority and diverse faculty.
“I’ve seen firsthand how diversity can lead to
excellence,” Dr. Fouad says. “If you have a diverse
group around the table, everyone brings their
culture, opinions and experiences. That brings
excellence to our research.”
Dr. Fouad also serves as senior associate dean
of diversity and inclusion for the UAB School of
Medicine, and as part of that, she is tasked with
encouraging more women and diverse students
to enter academic medicine. “Some women are
reluctant to enter the field because they worry
how they’ll manage their career and family life,”
she says. “We are looking at ways to help women
develop the skills and confidence to achieve their
career goals and become leaders.”
Dr. Fouad recalls the sacrifices she herself
made as a young mother raising two daughters
while building a career. She spent many late
nights working after putting her children to
bed as well as bringing them to her office on
the weekends. “You have to be organized and
decide what your priorities are. You have to let
some things go and accept that you cannot do
everything by yourself,” she says.
“You have to have a passion for what you do.
I love my work, and every day I’m excited by the
day ahead. Women should not be discour vV@