The Penn Center for Cancer Care Innovation is thrilled to announce that PC3I Fellow Anna Jo Smith, MD, MPH, MSc has earned a Young Investigator Award from Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation. The award provides funding to promising investigators as they transition from fellows to faculty.  

Dr. Smith will focus on improving care delivery for patients with adnexal masses and suspected ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer is among the deadliest of gynecologic cancers and currently lacks effective screening. While survival improves with surgical evaluation by a gynecologic oncologist, chemotherapy, and/or targeted cancer drugs called PARP inhibitors, many patients do not receive these treatments. Therefore, to increase patient participation in the previously mentioned treatments and reduce care disparities that start at diagnosis, Dr. Smith is testing the implementation of a default clinician-directed opt-out nudge to improve referral to gynecologic oncology for patients with suspected ovarian cancer, with a particular focus on patients from historically marginalized populations. The study will be conducted over a 12-month period and will examine the effect of clinician nudges compared with usual care.