Jinping Xu, M.D., MS, member of the Population Studies and Disparities Research Program at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Services at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, has been appointed as chair of the department after serving as interim chair since February 2021.
Dr. Xu is a board-certified practicing family physician and an accomplished physician-scientist. Her research has focused on the psychosocial aspects of cancer care that emphasize health disparities and health equity in African American populations, particularly in men’s decision-making in prostate cancer screening, treatment and survivorship care. She is the principal investigator of the ongoing multi-site study that the Department of Defense funds, titled “Racial Disparities in Active Surveillance Adherence and Quality of Life in a Population-based Prospective Cohort of Men with Low-risk Prostate Cancer.” Dr. Xu has recently completed the project “Best Practices to Engage Black Men in the Development of a Cancer Health Equity Research Agenda,” and “Supporting Detroit Communities as Leaders and Partners in COVID-19 Research,” which she co-led with Hayley Thompson, Ph.D. Dr. Xu and Dr. Thompson’s team were awarded funding for both projects through the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Eugene Washington Community Engagement Awards program.
Dr. Xu has demonstrated her wide scope of knowledge and expertise through various other projects she has taken on, including directing the MetroNet, a primary care practice-based research network in metro Detroit that supports evidence-based primary care and reducing racial disparities in health outcomes, as well as leading the Michigan Area Health Education Center. This statewide program seeks to increase access to quality primary care providers in underserved and rural communities.