<span>The Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center has named Antwione Haywood, PhD, its associate director of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Haywood is the first person to hold the chief diversity officer position at the cancer center.&nbsp;</span>
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IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center names its first associate director of diversity, equity and inclusion

Oct 18, 2021
Antwione Haywood IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center has named Antwione Haywood, PhD, its associate director of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Haywood is the first person to hold the chief diversity officer position at the cancer center. 
 
Haywood, assistant dean for medical student affairs and assistant professor of clinical radiation oncology at Indiana University School of Medicine, joins the cancer center’s executive committee, which oversees strategic planning, major funding decisions, and clinical, research, and educational activities. 

Equity and inclusion have been a common thread throughout Haywood’s career. His work has included projects investigating disparities in access, retention, and support of underrepresented populations. His DEI efforts have led to multiple publications and oral and poster presentations at national meetings.

Haywood serves as a co-director for the Cancer in the Under-Privileged Indigent or Disadvantaged (CUPID) summer fellowship, a program within the cancer center and the medical school. The CUPID program cultivates an interest in oncology and cancer research among medical students and includes formal lectures discussing health care disparities and specific diseases prevalent in underserved populations. Haywood teaches the Mind Body Medicine elective course for IU medical students, which promotes mindfulness and wellness practices. Within IU School of Medicine, he conducts unconscious bias training for faculty and students, leading tough conversations around DEI issues.

“Dr. Haywood brings great knowledge, passion and experience to our efforts to build diversity, equity and inclusion into the moral foundation of the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center,” Kelvin Lee, MD, director of the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, said. “We are very fortunate and very excited to have him join our team.”
Haywood joins the cancer center at an integral time as the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has charged all NCI-designated centers to increase DEI efforts. He will be responsible for enhancing participation of women and underrepresented populations in the research workforce and center leadership; supporting career-enhancing research opportunities for junior, early- and mid-career researchers to prepare them for center leadership; expanding the pipeline of cancer center members of diverse backgrounds through training or mentoring opportunities; and leveraging institutional commitment to enhance diversity within the center’s membership and leadership.

Haywood previously was director of the Academic Success Center at Purdue University. While there, he helped launch a national tutor training program and oversaw various initiatives to improve success of historically underrepresented populations in higher education.

Haywood holds a PhD from Indiana University-Bloomington, a master’s degree from the University of Kansas, both in higher education, and a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Old Dominion University.

“This is such a pivotal time to be joining the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center team,” Haywood said. “It’s really important to support creating spaces that values equity and inclusivity. An equity-centered approach to our work will advance our strategic focus on becoming a socially responsible comprehensive cancer center.”

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IU School of Medicine

Andrea Zeek