Transforming Cancer Prevention: Generous Gift Expands Potentially Life-Saving Services

A $100,000 gift from the Frederick Pei Li and Elaine Shiang Family Fund, made in memory of Frederick Pei Li ’64M (MD), ’66M (Res), will enhance cervical cancer outreach and prevention programs offered by UR Medicine’s Center for Community Health & Prevention, particularly among underserved populations.

Williams and Shiang at an event in Boston.“We are extremely grateful to Dr. Shiang for entrusting us with this impactful gift,” shared Edith Williams, PhD, MS, director of the Center for Community Health & Prevention. “The generosity of the Frederick Pei Li and Elaine Shiang Family Fund will help us further demonstrate our commitment to health equity with concrete strategies to increase access to life-saving cancer screening among the most vulnerable residents of our community.”

Planned outreach aims to increase awareness about the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine and cervical cancer screening via Pap tests among individuals ages 21-39 years old. This will allow the Cancer Services Program of the Finger Lakes Region (CSP-FLR), a New York State grant-funded program managed and facilitated by the CCHP that typically targets populations 40 and older, to reach a new generation. The CSP-FLR provides free cervical, breast, and colorectal cancer screenings and diagnostic testing to uninsured and underinsured residents of Monroe, Wayne, Ontario, Yates, Seneca, and Livingston Counties.

Li was a world traveler, always looking to the community for ways to improve care. While studying under the mentorship of Robert Berg, MD, inaugural chair of the Public Health Sciences Department at the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, Li volunteered to bring health care to migrant farm workers in the Rochester area. With Berg’s assistance, he took a year off to study diseases around the world, researching trachoma in Beirut and cholera in Hong Kong. His passion for community medicine was also demonstrated later in his medical career when he operated and volunteered at a free medical clinic in Chinatown in Boston, Massachusetts. The clinic laid the foundation for the current South Cove Community Health Center.

Frederick Pei Li, MD
Photo Credit: Harvard Medical LibraryA pioneer in cancer genetics, Li was passionate about developing cancer prevention strategies in high-risk populations. He is widely known for his breakthrough finding, along with his colleague Joseph Fraumeni, of a genetic abnormality in the TP53 tumor suppressor gene that came to be known as Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS). Individuals with LFS have a significantly higher risk of developing several types of cancer, including breast cancer, sarcomas, and leukemia, among others – and developing them early in life. For minority populations not regularly receiving or seeking preventive screenings and care, early detection of this abnormality is life altering.

Outreach efforts will largely focus on migrant and refugee populations. The CSP-FLR is a well-trusted program in the Finger Lakes farmworker community, having worked closely with the Finger Lakes Migrant Health Services Program and the Finger Lakes Coalition of Farmworker Serving Agencies. Reports show that Wayne County has the largest population of temporary agricultural workers in the state.

“Although Fred passed away 10 years ago, he would be thrilled to know that our family fund is supporting the meaningful work happening at the Center for Community Health & Prevention,” shared Elaine Shiang, MD, a physician who worked at Massachusetts Institute of Technology for 35 years. “It is amazing to find a place that is dedicated to epidemiology and the community engagement and disease prevention work that Fred was so passionate about.” 

Federally Qualified Health Centers and OBGYNs in Wayne County often reach out to case managers at the CSP-FLR about women in need of free cervical cancer screenings. Historically, the grant-funded program has been limited to providing cervical cancer screenings and diagnostic care only to eligible individuals ages 40 and older. Now, thanks to the gift from the Frederick Pei Li and Elaine Shiang Family Fund, these younger Wayne County residents, and many others, will receive the possibly life-saving education and screenings they need.

Women under 40 will be given the opportunity to connect with our knowledgeable staff, with the goal of expanding cervical cancer services and incorporating HPV vaccinations. Our team will be a resource to women and medical providers throughout the region, answering questions regarding cervical cancer prevention and addressing concerns.

“This generous gift will make HPV vaccines and free cervical cancer screenings more available to our migrant farmworkers, immigrants and their dependents,” shared Hannah Farley, manager of the CSP-FLR. “We can help provide a necessary service to our community, particularly the service of education and awareness of the HPV vaccine and prevention of cervical cancer.”

Future goals for this work include collaborating with the Community Outreach and Engagement team at Wilmot Cancer Institute to broaden support and prevention efforts for 21 – 39-year-olds who have health insurance and still face barriers with access to screening, as well as outreach to those in counties beyond the Cancer Services Program of the Finger Lakes Region’s eligibility standards.