Family doctor appointed head of diversity, equity and inclusion at Hollings

Family medicine doctor Nicholas Shungu, M.D., focuses on reducing health disparities, patient by patient, day by day, in his practice. Now, he’ll get to expand his reach as the newly appointed associate director for diversity, equity and inclusion at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. 

He intends to build upon the ongoing work at MUSC and Hollings, and he’s thrilled to join a team that includes Marvella Ford, Ph.D., who holds the endowed chair in cancer disparities at Hollings.

“Marvella Ford is one of my personal heroes, and the work that she’s been doing here just cannot be highlighted enough,” he said.

Shungu’s interest in cancer disparities goes back to his training days, when his father was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Since then, many of his primary care patients have gone on to develop cancer. Yet much of the information he has to share with patients – about their risks, potential outcomes or the benefits of screening – doesn’t differentiate based on race.

“In this country, Black folks are more than two times more likely to die from prostate cancer than White folks are. And that disparity is even greater here in the state of South Carolina,” he said. “But the best study that guides our understanding of prostate cancer screening comes from Europe, where race wasn’t even reported.”

"For me, as a primary care doctor, I wish that researchers had the foresight to prioritize this population that we know experiences worse outcomes. That would be an example of looking at things with an equity lens – making sure that a population that we know faces disparate outcomes is adequately or even overrepresented in studies."

Nicholas Shungu, M.D.

As a result, he said, when he talks with Black men about whether to get screened, it becomes a bit of an educated guess based on incomplete data.

“For me, as a primary care doctor, I wish that researchers had the foresight to prioritize this population that we know experiences worse outcomes,” he said. “That would be an example of looking at things with an equity lens – making sure that a population that we know faces disparate outcomes is adequately or even overrepresented in studies.”

In his new role, Shungu will be looking at all activities at Hollings, including patient care, research, education and staff recruitment.

Hollings director Raymond N. DuBois, M.D., Ph.D., said Shungu’s appointment expands Hollings’ commitment to reducing cancer disparities, particularly those that plague South Carolina.

“Many of our researchers and clinicians are acutely aware of these disparities – they see them in their patients and their studies. And researchers like Dr. Marvella Ford have dedicated their careers to raising national awareness of this issue,” he said.

“Nick will add to the already important work that we have happening here at Hollings in patient care, education and research, ensuring that we always keep diversity, equity and inclusion in the forefront of our work. He also will help us develop our future plans for this important component of the cancer center. Nick, with his combination of personal experience, research and primary care background, is the perfect fit for this role.” 

MUSC actually does better than many in recruiting diverse patient populations to participate in clinical trials, Shungu said, and the MUSC College of Medicine is one of the most diverse medical colleges outside of historically black colleges and universities. Shungu hopes to encourage more underrepresented minority students to continue their training through residencies at MUSC Health. He’s also excited about MUSC’s growth throughout the state, through new hospitals and expanded partnerships.

“It’s really an opportunity for us to expand our model of focusing on equitable treatment and equitable outcomes,” he explained.

But his first order of business, he said, will be to listen.

“I’m very new to the Hollings world. And so, I have a lot of ideas about what I think we could do, but I think the most important place for me to start is getting a survey of the landscape and understanding what is going on at Hollings – talking with folks who are clinicians at Hollings, folks who are researchers at Hollings and folks who are front desk staff at Hollings,” he said.

Shungu begins his new role on July 1.

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