Office of Community Outreach and Engagement

Community outreach and engagement initiatives at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center are led and coordinated by Karen Winkfield, MD, PhD, Associate Director for Community Outreach and Engagement. Dr. Winkfield and her team lead cohesive programs that integrate with the cancer center research portfolio and clinical practice to ensure reliable and up-to-date cancer information flows into our community.  The team also ensures that the voices of our patients and community are integrated into the laboratory and clinic.

Carla Strom, MLA, is the Administrative Director for Community Outreach and Engagement. Carla is responsible for working with colleagues to develop initiatives for supporting community engagement and reducing gaps in health care outcomes as well as translational research across all programs at Vanderbilt-Ingram. She has a wide range of experience in oncology, from volunteering as a teen to being a two-time young adult cancer survivor.  

Sonya Reid, MD, is the Assistant Director for Community Outreach and Engagement. Dr. Reid is a breast medical oncologist focused on young-onset breast cancer, hereditary breast cancer, and population-based differences in survival. Dr. Reid serves as a liaison to the Clinical Trials Office and engages regularly with the disease teams around improving the understanding of the catchment area demographics, optimization of selection for research initiatives, and how to best enhance accrual to our ongoing studies.