Christopher Lathan

Dr. Lathan’s primary research interests are centered on the effects of race, class, and access to care in cancer outcomes, including racial disparities in lung cancer treatment, differences in somatic mutations across racial groups, access to precision medicine by race and social class, equitable distribution of new treatment across populations. 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, a clinical outreach program that aids in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer for patients at Federally Qualified Health Centers and integrates all three arms of clinical cancer care: prevention, diagnosis/treatment, and survivorship. He is also the Associate Director of the Dana-Farber Network, with a focus on clinical trials accessibility. This effort also provides an opportunity to improve clinical trial accrual among vulnerable populations.

Research Abstract

Dr. Lathan’s primary research interests are centered on the effects of race, class, and access to care in cancer outcomes, including racial disparities in lung cancer treatment, differences in access to precision medicine by race and social class and equitable distribution of new treatment across vulnerable populations. 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 quality care, developed in part through community engagement. He remains a clinical oncologist focusing on lung cancer patients and is the founding Director of the Cancer Care Equity Program at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a clinical outreach program that aids in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer for patients at Federally Qualified Health Centers. He is the Chief Clinical and Access Equity Officer at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. His research interest focus on: leading system wide efforts to broaden access to cancer care for historically marginalized groups to reduce disparities and improve health outcomes. Specific projects include: 1) development of cancer focused health equity measurement and data reporting tools 2) patient navigation integration throughout the cancer service line 3) improving uptake of precision medicine in marginalized communities to advance cancer care.

Clinical Interests

• Lung cancer
• Midline NUT carcinoma
• Racial disparities in lung cancer treatment

Board Certification:

• Medical Oncology

Fellowship:

• Dana-Farber/Partners CancerCare, Medical Oncology

Residency:

• Boston Medical Center, Chief Medical Resident
• Boston Medical Center, Internal Medicine

Medical School:

• Tufts University School of Medicine