Megan  J. Huchko

I am an Obstetrician/Gynecologist and Global Health Researcher.

Megan J. Huchko, M.D.

University of California - San Francisco

The research community has made tremendous strides in demonstrating the efficacy of low-cost cancer prevention strategies for low-resource settings. However, I have realized that for these strategies to be truly effective, consideration of the contextual factors impacting the uptake and sustainability of these interventions in the target populations is crucial.

Dr. Huchko's overall professional goal is to carry out research and clinical work that improves the health and health care of vulnerable women globally. To this end, her research agenda focuses on reproductive health, and specifically on developing optimal and sustainable cervical cancer prevention strategies for women in resource-limited settings. Her work has targeted areas where HIV prevalence is high, increasing both the cancer risk and health disparities that women face.

Dr. Huchko worked with the Family AIDS Care and Education Services (FACES) program in western Kenya, to design and implement a cervical cancer screening and prevention (CCSP) program for HIV-infected women enrolled in care. The program’s success has led to the adoption of cervical cancer screening at general outpatient facilities in five districts in western Kenya in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. The CCSP program, along with the research infrastructure that Dr. Huchko's team has developed, provides an optimal platform for both clinical and operational research projects. Initially focusing on immunologic, epidemiologic and clinical factors associated with cervical cancer screening in this setting, Dr. Huchko's work has recently begun to focus on strategies to improve the delivery of evidence-proven screening and treatment strategies.

Dr. Huchko's current study, "Evaluating a Community-Driven Cervical Cancer Prevention Strategy in Western Kenya," uses an Implementation and Dissemination Science framework to evaluate the structural and contextual factors related to successful uptake of screening and treatment. Working with key stakeholders in target communities, Dr. Huchko's team will develop and test strategies to increase access to screening and the uptake of treatment. The impact, processes, costs and cost-effectiveness of these strategies will be used to guide implementation of community-based health interventions in different settings.


Grant Listing
Project Title Grant Number Program Director Publication(s)
Evaluating a Community-driven Cervical Cancer Prevention Model in Western Kenya
1R01CA188428-01
Publish File


To request edits to this profile, please contact Mark Alexander at alexandm@mail.nih.gov.

Last Updated: 09/14/2015 08:45:17