Ann Kimble-Hill, PhD, has been named the associate director of inclusive excellence.
As an associate director, Kimble-Hill joins the cancer center’s executive committee, which oversees strategic planning, major funding decisions, and clinical, research, and educational activities. This updated title reflects the cancer center’s strategic use of the inclusive excellence framework to guide the Plan to Enhance Diversity (PED). Kimble-Hill played a critical role in the cancer center’s recent NCI site visit, during which she presented the PED.
Kimble-Hill has worked in diversity, equity and inclusion programs and policy at IU and nationally. She is the program director for the cancer center's American Cancer Society Post-Baccalaureate Diversity in Cancer Research Education Program, and she is a past chair of the committee on minority affairs for the American Chemical Society. She facilitates several leadership programs, including the National Research Mentoring Network Entering Mentee Research, IU Intercultural Competency Program, and the IU Indianapolis Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program.
Kimble-Hill is an assistant research professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at IU School of Medicine and a member of the cancer center’s Tumor Microenvironment and Metastasis research program. Her laboratory is working to understand the nexus of breast cancer and Type 2 diabetes.
She succeeds Antwione Haywood, PhD.
March 2024 News Briefs
Leadership update: associate director of inclusive excellence
Wahl promoted to director of annual giving and strategic partnership
Ashleigh Wahl has been promoted to director of annual giving and strategic partnerships for the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center’s gift development team.
This newly created position capitalizes on how she has developed relationships with the Indianapolis Colts, Jackson Lee Racing, Ganassi Racing and other community partners. This new role will allow her to continue building strategic partnerships with the goal of enhancing community awareness about the center and growing our donor pipeline.
With this reorganization, Brittany Concannon, events coordinator, and Betsy Cooney, communications strategist, will report to Wahl. Meghan Forestal, assistant director of development, will continue to collaborate closely with the group on the direct mail component of cancer annual giving as well as on the development of new annual giving strategies.
With ongoing support from Concannon, Wahl will continue to direct the highly successful Chuckstrong Tailgate Gala as the cancer center’s annual signature event and will lead two productive annual programs: 100 Voices of Hope and Miles for Myeloma.
Welcome new cancer center staff member
Samantha Essex has joined the cancer center’s IT and communications teams as a project management coordinator.
In this position, Essex will support key digital marketing and editorial initiatives. She will work with writers from the communications team and web developers from the IT team as well as others across the cancer center to ensure the website is current, informative, and engaging. She will consult with stakeholders regarding existing web content and will initiate reviews when revisions and updates are necessary.
Essex was most recently an accounts manager with a local marketing firm where she worked with a variety of clients and systemized and streamlined processes and analyzed work plans.
Essex is working a hybrid schedule. Her on-campus office is located in UH AOC 5100. She can be contacted at scessex@iu.edu.
Upcoming events
Simon Says to discuss HPV and head and neck cancers
The next Simon Says Expert Series will be at 1 p.m. Friday, April 19. The topic is “HPV and Head and Neck Cancers: Understanding the Infections and Disease to Treatment and Prevention.” Rachel Katzenellenbogen, MD, and Greg Durm, MD, are the presenters.
Cancer Research Day is May 2
Cancer Research Day, the cancer center’s signature research event, will be held Thursday, May 2. Registration is now open. The deadline to submit an abstract is 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 3.
Submit an abstract
Save the Date: State of the Cancer Center
Kelvin Lee, M.D., director of the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, will present the annual State of the Cancer Center address at 3 p.m. Thursday, May 9, as part of the weekly Seminar Series, in Walther Hall, room 203. A reception will follow in the Walther Hall, second floor atrium.
Member headlines and highlights
Nasser Hanna, MD (EDT), appeared on Fox59 to talk about the $20 million gift to establish the Tom and Julie Wood Center for Lung Cancer Research. Watch the segment.
John Turchi, PhD (EDT), talked to Indiana Public Media about the impact of Julie Wood’s gift for lung cancer research at IU. Read the story.
