There are many treatments available for cancer  but how do you make csre delivery equitable? Given the various types of cancers how can you allocate the right resources to create equal outcomes? Dr. Lori Pierce has made equity a primary focus of her career. She describes how physics and radiology inspired her to be an engineer (6:06), and the moment she decided to transition from engineer to oncologist (12;54) and achieving the position of Vice-provost at the University of Michigan (23:01). Speaker Disclosures Dr. David Johnson: Consulting or Advisory Role – Merck, Pfizer, Aileron Therapeutics, Boston University Dr. Patrick Loehrer: Research Funding – Novartis, Lilly Foundation, Taiho Pharmaceutical Dr. Lori Pierce:    Stock and Other Ownership Interests Company - PFS Genomics;  Patents, Royalties, Other Intellectual Property Company - UpToDate, PFS Genomics; Uncompensated Relationships - Bristol-Myers Squibb, Exact Sciences Resources  If you liked this episode, please follow the show. To explore other educational content, including courses, visit education.asco.org. Contact us at education@asco.org. Disclosures for this podcast are listed in the podcast page.   Pat Loehrer: Welcome to Oncology, Etc. This is an ASCO Education Podcast. I'm Pat Loehrer, Director of Global Oncology and Health Equity at Indiana University.  Dave Johnson: Hi, I'm Dave Johnson at UT Southwestern in Dallas, Texas. I'm a Medical Oncologist. If you're a regular listener to our podcast, welcome back. If you're new to Oncology, Etc., the purpose of the program is to introduce listeners to interesting people and topics in and outside the world of oncology; hence the ‘et cetera’ in our name. Pat, we've got a great guest today. And we’ve got a great guest today. Pat Loehrer: Our next guest was able to do this despite living at a time when in the United States, certain groups of people faced tremendous barriers to achieve even the basic hint of equality. Our next guest is Lori Pierce. Dr. Pierce attended Duke University School of Medicine and completed a radiation oncology residency and chief residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She was then appointed as a senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute, the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, from 1990 to 1992. And in 1992, she joined the faculty at the University of Michigan, where she currently is a professor with tenure in Radiation Oncology.  Since coming to Michigan, she has served as Residency Director and Clinical Director in the Department of Radiation Oncology. In August of 2005, she was appointed by the University Board of Regents to be the Vice-Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs, a position she still holds. In 2020, she was ASCO President, and while she ascended to the ASCO Presidency, that year COVID descended upon the Earth, and we may hear some stories about that. She's dedicated her career to the treatment of breast cancer patients. She's published over 200 manuscripts and book chapters and has received numerous teaching awards from the University of Michigan, multiple national organizations, and many national awards.  Dr. Pierce, thank you so much for joining us today.  Dr. Lori Pierce: I am so happy to join you both today. What an incredibly nice introduction. Thank you so much.  Pat Loehrer: You were born and raised in Washington, DC. And the family eventually moved to Philadelphia when I think you were in junior high school. Can you paint a picture of what schooling was like for you growing up? Dr. Lori Pierce: Well, schooling, education was just so important to my family and myself. And so, as you said, I was born and raised in DC. Moved to Philadelphia when I was just entering high school. And my parents, who are just the best people on the planet, didn't have an opportunity to go to college. At that point, a lot of people of color didn't really have that opportunity. So education was so important in my family. So if you think a