Facts & Faith Fridays

CancerLINC executive director Julianne Duvall and Kandra Brown, Early Childhood Navigator with the Virginia Department of Education, share vital resources available to Virginia families for cancer, and early childhood education and childcare.

VCU Department of Psychology professor Shawn Utsey, Ph.D., returned to FFF to discuss his documentary, The Central Lunatic Asylum for the Colored Insane.

Muhammad "Irfan" Saeed, M.D. from VCU's Hume-Lee Transplant Center talks about the importance of minority donors, and hear from a living kidney donor.

Javon Burton, Executive Director for the Partnership for Housing Affordability; Greta J. Harris, President and CEO of the Better Housing Coalition; and Tyrone Nelson, M. Div, from Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church, discusses community partnerships and creative solutions that address the affordable housing crisis.

NIH's All of Us Research Program is inviting one million people across the U.S. to help build one of the most diverse health databases in history. We will hear from Karriem Watson, DHS, MPH, and his team about how our biology, lifestyle, and environment affect our health.

For more information, please visit:

• All of Us (NIH)
• All of Us Research Program

Sadeqa Johnson will discuss her book Yellow Wife - the story follows an enslaved woman forced to barter love and freedom while living in the most infamous slave jail in Virginia (which is located steps away from the Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center.) Dr. Utsey will discuss the impacts of race-related stress on the physical, psychological and social well-being of African Americans.

For more information, please visit:

• Sadeqa Johnson
• VCU News: "The Central Lunatic Asylum for the Colored Insane" 

Join Dr. Luni Emdad, who will discuss the science of pancreatic cancer. Also, we take a look at the Year in Review and learn together about how to care for ourselves and others during the holiday season.

Michael E Wechsler, MD, MMSc, Professor of Medicine and National Jewish Health Director for the NJH Cohen Family Asthma Institute, and Sesha Joi Moon, Ph.D, Executive Director of The JXN Project led a conversation about asthma and the JXN project.

On the heels of back to school, superintendents and safety & security team leaders from across the commonwealth conducted a roundtable discussion on school safety.

For more information, please visit:

• Chickahominy TRUTH Project
• Henrico County Public Schools
• Chesterfield County Public Schools
• Richmond Public Schools
• Henrico Violent Crime Task Force
• Teen Summit RVA

This month's Facts & Faith Fridays call focused on helpful tips from Samantha Guild of the AIM at Melanoma Foundation and local resources for Black college students interested in exploring higher education opportunities through a Mechanicsville-based nonprofit organization, Sub:Culture, Inc.

For more information, please visit:

• Aim At Melanoma Foundation
• SUB: CULTURE INC
• Website includes information about programs such as HBCU Food Pantry Initiative, Student Transition & Crisis Relief, To & Through College Prep Seminars, Fellows Program, etc.
• Phone: 804-214-6505