For more than three decades, Dr. Kate Taylor has helped advance cancer research and care at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. A clinical psychologist and behavioral scientist, Taylor studies the decisions and behaviors that can influence cancer prevention, screening and treatment. After spending much of her early career focused on prostate cancer screening and treatment, her work now concentrates primarily on tobacco control and improving access to smoking cessation services.
One of Taylor’s current areas of research involves developing and evaluating smoking cessation interventions for people at high risk for lung cancer. She and her colleagues, Drs. Randi Williams and Kimberly Davis, are conducting a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded clinical trial comparing phone-based approaches to treating tobacco dependence among adults who are eligible for lung cancer screening and continue to smoke.
The trial’s participants are between the ages of 50 and 80 and typically have smoked for several decades. Reaching this population is particularly important because stopping tobacco use continues to produce meaningful health benefits, including for people who have already received a cancer diagnosis. Taylor’s team is studying how the period surrounding lung cancer screening can become an opportunity to connect patients with specialized support when they may already be thinking closely about their health.
“People are making the effort to undergo lung cancer screening and talking with their providers about it,” Taylor said. “We want to capitalize on that moment.”
Taylor and co-principal investigator Dr. Randi Williams are speaking with leaders and providers across MedStar Health to understand how a similar treatment model could eventually support the much larger population of patients undergoing lung cancer screening. Their research includes evaluating the program’s cost-effectiveness from the health system’s perspective, an important step toward translating a successful clinical trial into a sustainable clinical service.
Taylor also leads the Smoking Treatment and Referral Program, known as the STAR Program, which provides tobacco treatment to patients with cancer and hematologic conditions at Georgetown Lombardi and the Washington Hospital Center. Through the program, trained tobacco treatment specialists provide phone-based counseling, while nurse practitioners work with patients who may benefit from medication as part of their treatment.
The STAR Program grew from a 2016 NCI initiative that challenged comprehensive cancer centers across the country to improve how they identify and treat tobacco use among patients. Since then, Georgetown Lombardi developed a program tailored to the needs of its own patients and health system, initially supported by NCI funding. After demonstrating that the model could successfully reach patients and help them stop smoking, MedStar Health began supporting the clinical program in 2019. That support has now been renewed through 2029.
The program has also positioned Georgetown Lombardi and MedStar Health to respond to new standards from the Commission on Cancer. Accredited cancer programs must assess tobacco use among at least 90 percent of new patients and offer treatment to at least 80 percent of those identified as currently using tobacco. Through the STAR Program, Taylor’s team is already meeting those benchmarks, assessing tobacco use among more than 95 percent of patients in most months and contacting every patient identified as currently smoking to offer evidence-based tobacco treatment.
Taylor believes the new standards will help make tobacco treatment a more consistent part of cancer care. The new standard will also encourage greater involvement from physicians and other providers, whose recommendations can be critical in helping patients understand that stopping tobacco use is an important component of their treatment.
Taylor’s commitment to cancer research also extends beyond her work. A longtime cycling enthusiast, she and her husband, Dr. Marc Schwartz, regularly ride together and enjoy going on cycling trips to various destinations. Years before BellRinger began, Taylor had followed the growth of Pelotonia, a cycling event supporting cancer research at The Ohio State University, and always hoped that such an initiative could make its way to Georgetown Lombardi.
When BellRinger launched, she immediately saw an opportunity to support the cancer center in a new way. Taylor became an enthusiastic advocate within Georgetown Lombardi’s Cancer Prevention and Control Program, encouraging colleagues to participate, organizing training rides and helping build a team of researchers, clinicians and staff.
“We’re not the biggest program or the biggest peloton by any means, but we’re small and enthusiastic. Thats all it takes to build something meaningful across our health system,” she said.
For Taylor, one of the most meaningful parts of BellRinger is riding alongside the colleagues she works with throughout the year. The training, the shared experience during the Ride, and the opportunity to reconnect with friends across Georgetown Lombardi and MedStar Health have continued to bring her back. After completing both the 25- and 50-mile routes in previous years, she is planning to take on the 50-mile route again.
Her participation has always been deeply personal. Like many BellRinger Riders, Taylor has experienced cancer within her own family. Riding gives her an opportunity to honor those family members while increasing awareness of the research and care taking place at Georgetown Lombardi.
For Taylor, BellRinger brings together the institution where she has spent her career, a lifelong love of cycling and a commitment to the families affected by cancer. It is another way to support the work she has dedicated more than 30 years to advancing—and to help ensure that work continues.
