In 2021, the Cancer Community Award, sponsored by AstraZeneca, created a new award category,

the Catalyst for Equity Award.

This award celebrates those who strive to overcome disparities in cancer care to bring

quality services to their patients.

The Organization Equal Hope won this first-ever award for its work eradicating health disparities

among Chicago women with breast cancer.

As we prepared for this year's awards, we reconnected with Dr. Anne-Marie Murphy, the

Executive Director of Equal Hope, to learn more about what's happened since her organization

received the award.

Well, Dr. Anne-Marie Murphy, I'm so excited for this opportunity to talk with you today.

Thank you for joining me.

Thank you for having me.

If you're explaining your organization to someone who is not in the health field, who hasn't

encountered cancer, how do you explain what you do?

So Equal Hope was set up in 2008 after the publication of very disturbing data that showed

that black women in Chicago die of breast cancer at a rate higher than white women.

But in other cities in New York and San Francisco, there was almost no disparity in the death rate.

So we were established as a citywide collaborative to address this disparity and to really dig deep

into understanding our health care system, the quality of mammography and breast cancer

treatment, and other barriers that women encounter to accessing the best breast cancer

care, including the best screening, the best diagnostics, and the best treatment.

So tell me about the kind of success you've seen since you started.

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