Takeaways:
- Huntsman Cancer Institute’s CEO was invited to join a small group of cancer center leaders meeting with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to discuss opportunities to advance cancer research and care.
- Bradley Cairns, PhD, highlighted how Huntsman Cancer Institute is addressing the needs of rural and frontier communities, where patients often experience poorer outcomes because they live far from major medical centers.
Impact: Huntsman Cancer Institute’s CEO helped highlight major achievements in cancer research and care and shared scalable strategies to improve outcomes in rural and frontier communities.
Leaders from the nation’s top cancer centers gathered recently at a symposium convened by City of Hope to discuss emerging opportunities to advance cancer research and care in the United States, with a particular focus on the growing promise of microbiome science. Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah was invited to participate alongside a small group of comprehensive cancer center leaders who also met with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, underscoring Huntsman Cancer Institute’s role in shaping the future of cancer prevention, research, and care at a national level.
The meeting brought together cancer center CEOs and senior leaders with federal health officials to highlight major achievements in cancer research and care and to explore how the United States can continue to lead through innovation, collaboration, and expanded access to care.
Bradley Cairns, PhD, CEO of Huntsman Cancer Institute, participated in the roundtable and highlighted ways Huntsman Cancer Institute is working to address the needs of rural and frontier communities, where cancer patients often face poorer outcomes because they live far from major medical centers.
During the roundtable discussion, Cairns emphasized one of the nation’s most urgent health challenges: improving cancer outcomes for people living in rural and frontier communities. Cancer patients in rural or frontier counties are 10–21% more likely to die from cancer, in part because they face delayed diagnoses, limited access to specialty care, and barriers to clinical trials. Huntsman Cancer Institute serves one of the nation’s largest geographic regions, spanning vast rural and frontier areas across the Mountain West, and has become a national leader in developing practical models to expand prevention, research, and high-quality care without requiring patients to leave their communities.
“It was an honor to join a small group of cancer center leaders to discuss how the United States can continue to lead in cancer research and care,” says Cairns. “At Huntsman Cancer Institute, we know innovation only matters if it reaches the people who need it. That is especially true in rural and frontier communities, where patients face greater barriers and poorer outcomes. We have an opportunity—and a responsibility—to expand access to prevention, research, and high-quality care in ways that improve lives across the country.”
“We have a responsibility to expand access to prevention, research, and high-quality care in ways that improve lives across the country.”
Bradley Cairns, PhD
Through long-standing collaborations with American Indian tribes and nations, Federally Qualified Health Centers, state and local health departments, local hospitals, research universities, and community organizations, Huntsman Cancer Institute has built a regional model to close this gap across the Mountain West. Decentralized clinical trials and the Huntsman at Home™ model are already expanding access, speeding up research, and lowering barriers for frontier and rural patients, while future opportunities include strengthening access to specialty care across state lines. These efforts improve outcomes locally and offer proven approaches that can help modernize cancer care delivery nationally.
“What sets this work apart is the scale of the challenge, the depth of our experience, and the strength of our long-standing regional partnerships across five Mountain West states,” Cairns says. “By applying AI, technology, and data science to workforce training, prevention strategies, and care delivery models, Huntsman Cancer Institute is developing approaches for rural and frontier communities that can be scaled nationally.”
The symposium also highlighted growing national interest in the role of the microbiome in cancer prevention, treatment response, and survivorship. That focus aligns with Huntsman Cancer Institute’s work in cancer prevention, technology, and workforce innovation—from tobacco cessation, colorectal cancer screening, mobile mammography, and community-based prevention programs to the use of AI, technology, and data science to strengthen training, prevention strategies, and care delivery. These are practical models built for frontier and rural communities that also have clear national relevance.
Huntsman Cancer Institute’s participation in the City of Hope symposium reflects its national leadership in advancing cancer prevention, research, and care. As the National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center for the Mountain West, Huntsman Cancer Institute is helping shape scalable, accountable approaches that improve access, strengthen communities, and reduce long-term health burdens. By bringing frontline experience from rural and frontier America together with emerging scientific priorities such as the microbiome, Huntsman Cancer Institute is helping define a stronger future for cancer care in the United States.