Association of Community Cancer Centers Announces New Executive Committee Leadership and Board Members

Rockville, MD — The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) has announced its new Executive Committee leadership and new Board of Trustee members for the 2021-2022 term.

David R. Penberthy, MD, MBA, Radiation Oncologist at Virginia Radiation Oncology Associates Inc., will serve as the new President-Elect of the Executive Committee, and Nadine J. Barrett, PhD, MA, MS, Director of the Office of Health Equity and Disparities at Duke Cancer Institute, will serve as its Treasurer. Both were elected by their colleagues during the recent ACCC 47th Annual Meeting and Cancer Center Business Summit.

The Executive Committee will be led by incoming ACCC President Krista Nelson, MSW, LCSW, OSW-C, FAOSW. Nelson is Program Manager of Compassion and Senior Social Worker at Providence Cancer Institute at Providence Health and Services in Portland, Oregon. Olalekan Ajayi, PharmD, MBA, who is Director of Practice Transformation at Sheridan Memorial Hospital, will stay in his role as Secretary for another term. This group, which includes Immediate Past President Randall A. Oyer, MD, has the task of shaping ACCC’s education and advocacy efforts emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The experience and talent across many disciplines that is represented on this executive committee is not only impressive, but it truly represents the mission of ACCC,” said Nelson.  “Those perspectives will be invaluable as this group guides ACCC and its members to share solutions and generate innovative resources for the oncology community as we move forward.

Penberthy is a practicing radiation oncologist, who served as ACCC Treasurer for the past two years. He has practiced at the Virginia Radiation Oncology Associates, Inc., a private medical practice based in Richmond, Virginia, since completing his residency at the University of Virginia in 2002. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech and a Doctor of Medicine degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, Penberthy completed a surgical internship at Bethesda Naval Hospital. He then served as a U.S. Navy Flight Surgeon with Fighter Squadron 101 in Oceana, Virginia. His interest in technology eventually led him to the field of Radiation Oncology.

Barrett previously served on the ACCC Board of Trustees, and currently is a medical sociologist and an assistant professor in the Department of Community and Family Medicine, within Duke University’s School of Medicine. She is the inaugural director of the Office of Health Equity and Disparities at the Duke Cancer Institute and serves as the director of the Duke Community Engagement Core, within the Center for Community and Population Health Improvement. A health equity and stakeholder engagement strategist, Barrett applies her expertise across three areas: linking vulnerable communities to health services and research, leveraging community and health system assets and services to align priorities and improve community and population health, and convening diverse stakeholders to develop community and patient-centered programs, services, and research.

ACCC also announced the appointment of five new members to the Board of Trustees: Robert Buras, MD, Breast Surgeon at Anne Arundel Medical Center; Amy Ellis, Chief Quality Officer at Northwest Medical Specialties, PLLC; Pablo Gutman, MD, MBA, Medical Director at Holy Cross Hospital Cancer Institute; Ginah Nightingale, PharmD, BCOP, Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice at Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University Health System; and David Spigel, MD, Chief Scientific Officer at Sarah Cannon and Partner at Tennessee Oncology.

More information on ACCC’s leadership can be found here.