Christopher S. Lathan, MD, MS, MPH, is the Chief Clinical Access and Equity Officer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Medical Director of Dana-Farber at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Associate Medical Director of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Network and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Lathan attended medical school at Tufts University School of Medicine and completed his postdoctoral training in internal medicine, medical oncology and cancer outcomes research at Boston Medical Center and the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. Dr. Lathan also holds a master’s degree in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health, and a Master’s of Science degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Massachusetts.
Dr. Lathan’s primary research interests are centered on the effects of race, class, and access to care on cancer outcomes, including racial disparities in lung cancer treatment, differences in somatic mutations across racial groups, perceptions of genetic testing by race and social class, population differences in targetable mutations in non-small cell lung cancer, and factors influencing willingness to participate in bio-banking among black men with and at-risk for prostate cancer. He is a board member of the National African American Cancer Coalition and the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board for the Lung Cancer Alliance. He is a past board member of the Conquer Cancer Coalition, and Boston Healthcare for the Homeless. Dr. Lathan also serves on the Health Disparities, Cancer Education and Scientific Review committees for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the Minorities in Cancer Research Council for the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
Dr. Lathan aims to bridge the gap between research efforts in disparities and the realities of patient care by developing interventions to increase access to high level quality care, developed in part through a high level of community engagement. He is the founding Faculty Director of the Cancer Care Equity Program at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Director of Dana-Farber Community Cancer Care at Whittier Street Health Center in Roxbury, Massachusetts, a clinical outreach program that aids in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer for patients at a Federally Qualified Health Center, and integrates all three arms of clinical cancer care: prevention, diagnosis/treatment, and survivorship. This effort also provides an opportunity to improve clinical trial accrual among vulnerable populations.