VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center is set to gain a new leader: Monica L. Baskin, Ph.D., will serve as director pending VCU Board of Visitors approval in September. She is also expected to be named the Lipman chair in oncology, bringing a research and leadership profile rooted in population science and community-engaged cancer prevention. Baskin will begin in the director role on August 3, 2026, becoming the first female director in Massey’s history and the first Black woman to lead an NCI-designated cancer center.
Baskin will oversee a large, multidisciplinary cancer center comprising 250 scientists and clinical investigators. She will be the fifth director since Massey received its National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation in 1975—an inflection point that underscores how the center’s priorities are evolving alongside national expectations for translational impact and equity-focused outreach.
Her career has centered on a community-to-bench model of cancer care. Rather than treating engagement as an afterthought, Baskin’s approach integrates behavioral, social, and environmental determinants into the design of prevention, screening, treatment, and survivorship strategies. This framework supports technical pathways that connect real-world constraints—access, trust, and context—with measurable clinical and behavioral outcomes.
A major emphasis in her work involves lifestyle interventions aimed at improving cancer-related behaviors and health outcomes, including diet, physical activity, and obesity risk. Such outcomes are particularly relevant for rural populations and communities that have historically faced barriers to cancer prevention and care. By targeting modifiable behaviors, her research translates population-level risk factors into intervention-ready programs.
VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D., highlighted Baskin’s publication record and community-centered research as central to her readiness for the role. He also noted her recent performance as Massey’s deputy director, describing her as a driver of cutting-edge research with direct impact for the center’s catchment area.
Since joining Massey in February 2025, Baskin has strengthened the center’s influence across central, southern, and eastern Virginia. She has also elevated Massey’s national profile through leadership in academic societies, including former presidency of the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) and board service roles connected to academic medical centers and community outreach and education.
Baskin’s motivation is personal as well as scientific. Raised in Atlanta, she lost her father to colorectal cancer during her senior year of high school, and later experienced additional family losses to cancer. Those events guided her training in psychology and her focus on cancer prevention, early detection, and mental health.
With more than $70 million in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant involvement as a principal investigator or team leader, Baskin has also contributed to Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) review panels. That experience positions her to lead Massey through renewal of its CCSG and comprehensive-designated status, which the center earned for the first time in 2023.
Beyond directing Massey, she serves as associate dean for cancer innovation in the VCU School of Medicine and holds professor appointments spanning internal medicine and social and behavioral sciences. Her appointment is expected to reinforce a data-driven, equity-forward translation engine—one that aims to reduce cancer burden through both science and community partnership.
Subject of Research: Community-to-bench cancer prevention and lifestyle interventions (behavioral, social, and environmental determinants)
Article Title: Monica L. Baskin to Become Next Director of VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center
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Image Credits: VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center
Keywords: VCU Massey, Monica L. Baskin, cancer center director, community-to-bench model, NCI-designated, cancer prevention, screening, lifestyle interventions, health equity, rural health
Tags: behavioral and social determinants of healthcancer center leadershipcommunity-engaged cancer preventiondiversity in cancer center leadershiphealth equity in oncologylifestyle interventions for cancer preventionMonica Baskin oncology researchmultidisciplinary cancer researchNCI-designated cancer centerspopulation science in cancer carerepresentation of women and minorities in cancer leadershiptranslational cancer research and outreach
