Kimlin Ashing, PhD

Dr. Kimlin Tam Ashing, Ph.D is professor at the Beckman Research Institute, and Founding Director of the Center of Community Alliance for Research and Education (CCARE) at City of Hope Medical Center. She received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. As an advocate-scientist, she is advancing population health science and practice. She is a Population, Behavioral Scientist working closely with multiethnic and multisectoral partners (e.g., behavioral, basic, clinical and translational scientists, molecular epidemiologists, geneticists and community partners) to develop and implement evidenced based, culturally, clinically and community responsive health improvement studies and interventions. Her mission is to conduct multidisciplinary, translational research while engaging advocates and civil society in science to speed-up and ensure the public benefit of biomedical research and advancements.

She is PI on PCORI and NIH funded studies. She is Program Director for the Community Health Educator Cancer Center Supplement supported by NCI-Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities. Dr. Ashing holds several national leadership roles within the American Association for Cancer Researchers (AACR) where she sat on the Minority in Cancer Research Council, Chaired the Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship Award Committee, and sits on the AACR Education and Training Committee and Breast Cancer Research review Committee. She is a leader within the NIH-funded African-Caribbean Cancer Consortium where she co-chairs the Women’s Cancers Working Group; Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM)-Health Equity and Cancer Special Interest Groups, and Senior Investigator Award Committee; CancerCare Patient Values Initiative_Patient Values Working Group (PWG); ASCO-Depression and Anxiety Expert Panel; Army of Women Scientific Advisory Group; and the National Advisory Councils for the Asian Pacific Islander Native Hawaiian Cancer Survivors Network and the Young Survival Coalition; and served on the Executive Council of American Cancer Society, Los Angeles. She is a Life member of the Association of Black Psychologists. She served as past Board Member; Chaired the Mentoring Committee and served on the Scientific Committee of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS), and co-Chaired the Health Equity and Diversity Inclusion Special Interest groups for both APOS and SBM. She serves as Scientific Advisor to Latinas Contra Cancer; Caribbean Medical Providers Practicing Abroad; Association of Black Women Physicians, Los Angeles Chapter; and The Take Action of Health Initiative--a community benefits partnership among National Urban League, Anthem and Pfizer. She was awarded the prestigious Fox Award for advancing the field of Psychooncology by the International Psychooncology Society, and is a member of the Human Rights Taskforce. She is a 2018 nominee for the American Cancer Society Trish Greene Quality of Life Award. In 2017 and 2018, she co-Chaired the Mentoring and Career Development sessions for the Science of Health Disparities Conference and the Annual AACR meeting. Her dedication to the advancement of the science of patient reported outcomes is evidenced by her championing and Chairing the Survivorship/Behavioral session for the 2018-2019 AACR Annual meetings and the AACR 2020 Science of Cancer Health Disparities.

Dr. Ashing is a notable leader in examining health disparities, cancer inequities and survivorship. She has published over 100 articles and book chapters. In 2017, she coauthored Detecting and Living with Breast Cancer: for Dummies, Wiley, NY. Her scholarship is elucidating how cultural; ethnic; socio-ecological e.g., environmental, social strata, residential; structural and systemic contexts influence health and patient centered outcomes e.g., mortality, morbidity, distress, symptoms, quality of life and research participation. She applies this knowledge to implement interventions to improve well-being, reduce health inequities and increase diversity in research participation.

She is a community-minded researcher who is guided by the intersectionality of society, biology, culture, family and person. Her studies are multicultural with diverse ethnic groups, including African Americans; Afro-Caribbean Americans; Latino Americans; Chinese-, Japanese-, Filipino-, Korean- and European-Americans. As a woman of color raised in a multicultural (Chinese and Afro-Caribbean) and multilingual home, and the youngest of eight siblings, she recognized the salience of culture and context very early in her life. As the daughter of two former cancer survivors, and as a licensed Clinical Psychologist, she is compassionate and passionate about her work to reduce health inequities and cancer disparities, and enhance health outcomes for underserved communities. Dr. Ashing is the mother of three children: Joshua - enjoying a career in Market Research; Kemi - a poised, science and art lover, and a Junior at Harvard College; and Ajorin - a sport enthusiast and high-schooler. She lives in beautiful Altadena, California. She thrives on faith, family, science to society, and organic gardening