Acs Research - Theorylab

Leticia Nogueira, PhD, MPH—Senior Principal Scientist in the Data Science Research team at the American Cancer Society—has broken new ground with her research into climate change and cancer. In 2019, she published work showing how disasters such as hurricanes can interrupt the provision of oncology care. Radiotherapy is particularly vulnerable, because it requires dependable electrical power and the daily presence of specialized teams and patients for treatment delivery. She followed that up this year with a look at how climate change increases exposure to carcinogens and disrupts access to cancer care: “Climate change is already increasing cancer risk through increased exposure to carcinogens after extreme weather events such as hurricanes and wildfires. In addition to increasing cancer risk, climate change is also impacting cancer survival. Extreme weather events can impede patients' access to cancer care and the ability of cancer treatment facilities to deliver care. For these reasons, cancer treatment