Dr. Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati is associate dean for community initiatives at the Keck School of Medicine (KSOM) and associate director for community outreach and engagement at the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Southern California. She is a tenured professor in preventive medicine and the associate director for the Center for Health Equity in the Americas. Dr. Baezconde-Garbanati is an expert in cancer disparities research with diverse populations, in developing culturally specific effective cancer prevention interventions, and in engaging at risk populations in community-based participatory research. She has been a key member of six NIH funded research centers. Her research has helped to shape the way scientific information is communicated to diverse populations, and has been a voice for inclusion, outreach, and engagement of community opinion leaders and underserved communities in research to eliminate disparities locally, nationally and internationally.