UK HealthCare

'UK at the Half': Learn About Markey's SHE in Oncology Program

SHE in Oncology participants
Students participating in the Markey Cancer Center's SHE in Oncology program on July 17, 2021. Pete Comparoni | UK Photo

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 17. 2021) — For this "UK at the Half,"  Nathan Vanderford, Ph.D., associate professor of toxicology and cancer biology in the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, and current UK freshman Kaylee Compton discuss the UK Markey Cancer Center's recently launched Summer HealthCare Experience (SHE) in Oncology program, aimed at empowering high school girls throughout Kentucky to learn more about the field of cancer medicine and research.

Funded by the American Cancer Society, SHE in Oncology offers experiences, activities and discussions to help introduce teen girls to the wide range of career and leadership opportunities in oncology. The program is open to students who identify as female in 10th through 12th grades in any Kentucky high school. The program aims to support young women who are underrepresented in the sciences, including teens of a racial or ethnic minority, from low-income households, living with a disability, or who are first-generation college-bound.

"UK at the Half" airs during halftime of each UK football and basketball game broadcast on radio and is hosted by UK Public Relations and Marketing. To hear the "UK at the Half" interview, click on the play button above. 

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.