Monica L. Baskin has joined the VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center as deputy director of research.

She will also serve as associate dean for cancer innovation at the VCU School of Medicine. Baskin holds appointments as professor in the Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Palliative Care in the Department of Internal Medicine, and as professor in the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the School of Public Health.

Baskin previously worked at the University of Pittsburgh Hillman Cancer Center, where she was deputy director, associate director for community outreach and engagement, and associate director for health equity. She also served as assistant vice chancellor for community health equity, health sciences, at the University of Pittsburgh.

“I am deeply honored to join the distinguished faculty and staff at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center as deputy director,” Baskin said. “Massey is leading the nation in putting the community at the center of research, treatment and survivorship in order to eliminate disparities and save more lives.”

Robert A. Winn, director of VCU Massey, said Baskin is “a fierce advocate for cancer prevention and early detection in order to reduce health disparities and improve outcomes for all.”

Baskin’s research has been shaped by personal experience. Her father died from colorectal cancer during her senior year of high school.

“My father died from an entirely preventable cancer, and that had major implications for me,” she said. “I chose a career in psychology, primarily because I saw what my family was experiencing in that loss, and then really didn’t see a lot of people who looked like me who were in professions of mental health, or even talked about that.”

Before joining VCU Massey, Baskin served as vice chair for culture and diversity in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is a former president of the Society of Behavioral Medicine and recently chaired the cancer incidence panel for the World Cancer Research Fund International’s Global Cancer Update Program.

Baskin earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology from Emory University and holds a master’s and doctoral degree in community counseling and counseling psychology from Georgia State University. She completed a pediatric psychology fellowship at Emory and two National Institutes of Health fellowships at the National Cancer Institute and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research.