Addressing Cancer in East Africa
Sarah earlier had the privilege of advancing global cancer research, training, and clinical care in East Africa while working for the Fred Hutch Cancer Center, which has a robust collaboration with the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI), a specialized tertiary medical facility owned by the Uganda Ministry of Health. According to the Kampala Cancer Registry, some of the most common cancers in adults at the UCI are breast cancer, cervical cancer, Kaposi Sarcoma, prostate cancer, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). In Uganda, HIV/AIDS and other infections have contributed significantly to its rising cancer burden and mortality. Low- and middle-income countries represent a significant and rising share of the global cancer burden, making the UCI an important research and training partner.
As managing director, Sarah led the team responsible for strategy, finance, operations, partnerships, and resource mobilization. In this role, she managed the development and implementation of a new five-year strategy and financial model for Fred Hutch’s global oncology program and introduced a monitoring and evaluation system to measure its impact. On behalf of Fred Hutch, she developed robust relationships and negotiated key agreements with the government of Uganda, which resulted in the construction, opening, and shared financing and operations of a new, state-of-the-art clinical care, research, and training facility. Through persistent advocacy and strong relationship building, she successfully advocated for Uganda to increase its cancer budget for UCI by 30 percent. Sarah also collaborated with faculty to negotiate agreements with biopharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, and Cepheid, paving the way for clinical trials to evaluate new diagnostics and improved therapies to treat breast cancer and lymphoma in low-resource settings.
