Special edition: The blueprint for better lung cancer screening
About this episode
The episode discusses innovative approaches to lung cancer screening in Kentucky and the challenges of addressing stigma and human behavior in healthcare.
In this special edition of the This Week in Global Development podcast, produced in partnership with the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, Devex co-founder and Executive Vice President Alan Robbins sits down with three architects of Kentucky’s transformation in fighting high lung cancer rates: Dr. Jamie Studts, Dr. Jennifer Redmond Knight, and Dr. Timothy Mullett — the team behind the Kentucky LEADS Collaborative and the QUILS™ system. After a decade of data, the results are clear: earlier diagnoses are being seen in Kentucky, and current efforts are seeking a similar impact in Mississippi and Nevada. But the real story is how these results were achieved. Rather than imposing top-down protocols, QUILS™ works by equipping local community programs with data-informed tools, continuous feedback, and practice support — helping local clinics serve as trusted access points for lung cancer screening in their communities. The conversation tackles the hardest part of scaling any screening program: human behavior. Lung cancer carries a unique stigma rooted in decades of anti-smoking messaging, and that stigma remains a powerful barrier, discouraging eligible patients from coming forward. The…
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