Preventive Care & COVID

Anita Wiseman has over twenty years of experience in strategic communication, engagement and campaigning in the health sector, she is currently an independent consultant based in Edinburgh, Scotland. As the Campaigns and Partnerships lead for WSO, she has been at the helm of three World Stroke Day campaigns and facilitated the development of WSO’s four year Strategic Campaign Framework.

In addition to the day job, Anita is a proud parent to her six year-old daughter and a Trustee to Link Education International. She holds an MSc in Public Relations and is a member of PRCA – the Public Relations Consultants Association.

Lisa Berry Edwards has been at the Prevent Cancer Foundation since 2014 and has served in a variety of roles during this time. In her position as Managing Director of External Affairs, she oversees the Foundation’s communications and works to further the message of cancer prevention and early detection through material development, media outreach, education campaigns, and policy and advocacy.

Previously, she worked for the Council for a Strong America, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Lisa received her Bachelor of Science from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She currently lives in Maryland with her husband and son.

Richard Wender MD has dedicated his career to leading medical and public health efforts that strive to improve the quality of primary care, implement population health, and address social determinants of health in the continuous pursuit of equity for all people. As Professor of Family and Community Medicine, including 12 years as the Alumni Professor and Chair of the Department, Dr. Wender and his team spearheaded innovative programs in geriatric medicine, palliative care, the patient-centered medical home, quality-based payment, refugee health, and community partnership. From 2013 to 2020, Dr. Wender served as the first Chief Cancer Control Officer of the American Cancer Society. He helped to build a cancer control team that launched a transformative national initiative to achieve 80% colorectal cancer screening rates in every community, a national and global campaign to increase HPV vaccination rates, and an enterprise-wide effort to help build healthier communities.

Dr. Wender has continuously advocated for the importance of preventive care and for the creation of an effective bridge between primary care and public health. This includes providing 100’s of keynote addresses, at least one in all 50 states, and authoring numerous publications. As Chair of the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable and a member of the steering committee for the President’s Cancer Panel cancer screening initiative, Dr. Wender is helping to lead efforts to promote the safe provision of cancer screening services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As Director of Operations at Gryt Health, Jessica helps build awareness of what it means to live your life with “GRYT.” At 25 years old, she had to fight for her own cancer diagnosis. After refusal from five doctors, due to her age and gender, the sixth doctor diagnosed her with Stage 3 colon cancer and gave her a two-month prognosis. Following treatment, Jess’ nurse practitioner suggested genetic testing, which revealed a PalB2 mutation. Originally overwhelmed with her diagnosis, after embracing other survivors in the cancer community, her outlook changed. She now uses her skills to do something amazing with each day and help those in the Gryt community find resources, their voice and be their own advocate.

My clinical, research, and teaching expertise encompasses the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases. I direct the University of Rochester’s Clinical Lipidology and LDL Apheresis Programs. I am Director of The Epidemiology and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease course and Co-Director of The Epidemiology and Prevention of Chronic Diseases course in the University of Rochester’s graduate programs. My primary faculty appointment is in the Department of Public Health Sciences with secondary appointments in Cardiology and the Center for Community Health. I serve as a member of the Health Policy and Research Committee within the Science and Policy Council of the National Lipid Association. I have led projects sponsored by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute in which the focus has been partnering with patients with familial hypercholesterolemia in order to improve their health and develop research ideas. These projects were PCORI Pipeline to Proposal Tier I, II, and III Awards with Tier III ending July 31, 2018. I served as Principal Investigator for the “Educating Patients and Care Providers About Familial Hypercholesterolemia using EPIC” study. This study had 2 phases. The first was the Formative Phase in which we conducted key informant interviews and focus groups with patients with this disorder and primary care physicians to investigate what is most appropriate to integrate into eRecord (the University of Rochester Epic Electronic Health Record). The second phase involved integrating this content into eRecord and testing its effectiveness in improving LDL and non-HDL cholesterol as well as motivation, connectedness, and feelings of competence (the main elements of Self-Determination Theory). Learning from this ongoing project will optimize our methods moving forward with future research. In 2014-2015 I was Principal Investigator for a Kaneka-sponsored project entitled “Investigating the Motivation of Patients with Very High Cholesterol Enrolled in an LDL Apheresis Program” which used Self-Determination Theory to determine the supportiveness of this treatment program for patients with familial hypercholesterolemia. I was Principal Investigator for the clinical trial portion of the NHLBI/SBIR-sponsored Interactive Cholesterol Advisory Tool study (1R44HL097506-01) and directed the data analyses. It investigated the effects of the interactive “virtual clinician” electronic/web-based tool that we developed, on LDL and non-HDL cholesterol as well as participant motivation to make lifestyle and medication changes to lower their cardiovascular disease risk. Self-Determination Theory was the theoretical basis for this study. The first publication resulting from this study was published in the Health Informatics Journal (see below). I served as Co-Chair of the data safety monitoring board for the study entitled “Creating a Virtual Clinician Research Tool (VCRT Study)” sponsored by NIH/NIDA (R21DAO24262). It was a clinical trial studying the benefits of a “virtual clinician” computer-based tool in enhancing the management of dyslipidemia and nicotine dependence. My personal independent ongoing research also focuses on the prevention of cardiovascular diseases with a particular interest in the role of fish oil and aspirin. This interest led me to be PI for a completed R21 funded by NHLBI (R21-HL102582-01) and to become co-investigator for an R01 (1 R01 HL130099-01).

Dr. McBride received his medical degree from University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UW SMPH) and master's degree in public health from the University of South Carolina (USC), where he also completed a family practice residency.

An emeritus professor in the Department of Medicine's section of cardiovascular medicine and the Department of Family Medicine at UW SPMH, McBride also co-directed the UW Hospital and Clinics' Preventive Cardiology program, with more than 30 professional staff and includes inpatient and outpatient cardiac rehabilitation, a preventive cardiology/cholesterol clinic, obesity programs, and other clinical initiatives for people at risk for cardiovascular disease. In 2004-2015, he was the Associate Dean for Students, and in 2016 – 2017 the Associate Dean for Faculty at the UW SMPH. He led the UW SMPH accreditation in 2009.

McBride's experience encompasses the three broad areas of academic medicine: education, research and clinical care. He has served on several national guideline panels including the National Cholesterol Education Program's (NCEP) Children and Adolescent Treatment Panel, the AAMC Obesity Panel, the AHRQ Cardiac Rehabilitation Expert Panel, and the NIH-NCEP's Adult Treatment Panel III and IV, as well as numerous local health system guidelines.

Sixteen local and national teaching awards bestowed upon McBride include the UWSMPH Dean’s Teaching Award, the UWSMPH PA Teaching Award, the UW Van Hise Wisconsin Idea Teaching Award and a lifetime position in the UW Teaching Academy. Dr. McBride was also given Distinguished Alumni Awards from the UW SMPH, the USC School of Medicine, the USC School of Public Health, the UW-Milwaukee, and Wauwatosa East High School.

With his primary research focus in preventive cardiology, cholesterol and hypertension treatment, and the quality of cardiovascular disease prevention in practice, McBride has authored or co-authored more than 200 publications, over 25 book chapters, and 4 textbooks. McBride is a leader in developing and implementing statewide teaching programs for health care professionals on heart disease prevention, cholesterol, and quality improvement.