On the Path to Prevention from the St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program

Last month, on May 24, Reps. Kathy Castor, Julia Letlow, and Kim Schrier introduced the bipartisan Promoting Resources to Expand Vaccination, Education, and New Treatments for HPV Cancers Act, or the PREVENT HPV Cancers Act. This legislation would aid in preventing HPV cancers and saving lives. The act would facilitate additional efforts to increase awareness through a national campaign for health care providers, vaccine decision makers, and the public. In addition, it would also increase resources for timely cervical cancer screening, follow-up care, and treatment for people who are uninsured or underinsured. This act was originally introduced in 2021 and passed the House, but ultimately did not become law. Policy efforts like the PREVENT HPV Cancers Act focus our attention on prevention and myriad benefits of early intervention to prevent future disease.

We know that people who identify as LGBTQIA+ are at higher risk of developing HPV cancers. HPV vaccination coverage among this population appears to be low but is really unclear. There is a need to understand HPV vaccination among this population because we know disease burden exists. This month offers us a time to focus attention on the health of LGBTQIA+ people and support HPV vaccination for cancer prevention. In March, our program hosted an informative seminar addressing opportunities to improve HPV vaccination coverage among LGBTQIA+ people. Last weekend, we participated in the Memphis PRIDE Festival and had the opportunity to talk about HPV cancer prevention with hundreds of people.

School is out for summer—or is almost out for summer. Summer is the time when adolescents are most commonly getting vaccinated against HPV and other recommended vaccines. Now is the time to start efforts for the back-to-school period. Later this month, our program will release resources to support your efforts.

HPV vaccination is cancer prevention.

June is Pride Month, an annual observation that celebrates the contributions of the LGBTQIA+ community and recognizes the community’s history of overcoming prejudice to be accepted for who they are.

Pride Month also reminds us to acknowledge the diversity within the LGBTQIA+ community. This includes sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ethnicity, geographic location and socioeconomic status. We must also recognize the unique health challenges and disparities within these communities, including access to gender-affirming and culturally appropriate care, prevention and screening services for the LGBTQIA+ community, plus other determinants of health.

Of particular interest to us in the St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program is preventing HPV cancers within the LGBTQIA+ community by increasing HPV vaccination. We spoke with two experts who are focused on alleviating health disparities within the LGBTQIA+ community. We wanted to learn more about the challenges they face when it comes to HPV vaccination and HPV cancers.

Christopher Wheldon, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, College of Public Health, Temple University

Christopher Wheldon, PhD, says his path to becoming a behavioral scientist working to reduce cancer disparities and improve cancer care for underserved and vulnerable populations “evolved naturally.” He recognized the unique health challenges of the LGBTQIA+ community. While pursuing his master’s degree, he focused on sexual health disparities, specifically HIV prevention in men who have sex with men. Later, during his PhD program, Wheldon broadened his research to include HPV vaccination, which then sparked his decision to focus on anal cancer—one of the 6 cancers that HPV vaccination can prevent.

When discussing HPV and barriers to vaccination within the LGBTQIA+ community, Wheldon notes that while the community is diverse, common barriers relate to stigma in health care. This stigma can lead to fear of being judged, mistreated, and marginalized by physicians, nurses, and staff. He notes that many in the community take active steps to avoid this by seeking out LGBTQIA+ friendly providers, but that more can be done. Providers can take continuing education classes on LGBTQIA+ health and serve as allies by ensuring that health care is inclusive, patient-centered, and culturally responsive.

Wheldon also discussed a need for additional public education about all HPV cancers. Although public education about cervical cancer has been widespread and successful, he notes that “information about anal cancer risk and prevention strategies has not been widely disseminated.” Those in the LGBTQIA+ communities need to know what they may be at risk for, how to prevent it, and where and how to get screened to ensure early detection.

When asked what steps those who identify as LGBTQIA+ can take to prevent HPV and HPV cancers, Wheldon responded, “first, get vaccinated. Second, learn about how to screen for HPV cancers. There is great screening available for cervical cancer, but there are also screenings for anal cancer.”

Prajakta Adsul, MBBS, MPH, PhD
Assistant Professor, Division of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Preventative Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer

While a cancer prevention fellow at the National Cancer Institute, Prajakta Adsul, MBBS, PhD, and her colleagues were reviewing the final aspects of evidence produced in support of cervical cancer screening. It occurred to her that there were no data or studies about cervical cancer and its impact in LGBTQIA+ community. This recognition led Adsul to research health disparities in the LGBTQIA+ community.

When discussing barriers to HPV vaccination within the LGBTQIA+ community and efforts to increase awareness of the importance of vaccination, Adsul stresses the importance of compassionate, culturally appropriate care. She notes that those who identify as LGBTQIA+ often feel discriminated against in medical care settings and this lack of respect and comfort prevents achieving “the population health outcomes that we work for.”

To improve the delivery of care, Adsul recommends creating welcoming spaces that reflect compassion and competence and understanding both mental and physical health challenges that affect LGBTQIA+ populations. She also notes the importance of advocating for inclusion of the LGBTQIA+ population in any efforts to promote HPV vaccination.

When asked about steps that those who identify as LGBTQIA+ can take to prevent HPV and HPV cancers, Adsul recommends, “Get vaccinated! The CDC guidelines now recommend vaccination starting at age 9 and up to 26 years of age for routine vaccination. It is important to stress that everyone is at risk for acquiring HPV infections which may lead to cancer, and we have the vaccine to prevent this.”

Calvin Nokes, a 63-year-old anal cancer survivor from Virginia, dedicates his time to advocate for HPV vaccination and cancer prevention.

Before his diagnosis, Nokes was unaware of the risks of HPV infection or HPV cancers for men. He was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2009 after confusing his symptoms with hemorrhoids. Nokes found it difficult to talk about his diagnosis with friends and family because of the shame and embarrassment he felt from stigma related to HPV. His identity as a gay man made him even more hesitant to share or to advocate publicly.

However, after learning more about the importance of HPV vaccination as cancer prevention, Nokes’ desire for people to “not be in the dark” helped him overcome his fear of stigma and led him into advocacy.

“I’ve learned communication is key,” Nokes said. “Talk to the doctors and share with those close to you. I was lucky and survived cancer twice because I acted early. It has been a rough and emotional journey, but by being an advocate I raised awareness and let people know there are organizations that can help them.”

Nokes continues to use his connections and platforms to share information about his diagnosis, survivorship, and HPV cancer prevention, especially among LBGTQIA+ communities.

Watch Nokes' story

June highlights the beginning of summer and a time to celebrate fathers worldwide. This Father’s Day highlight goes to Birmingham, Alabama, native Kerry McInerney, JD. McInerney is a husband, father of 3, attorney, and survivor of oropharyngeal cancer. In 2011 at the tender age of 41, Kerry was diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer and was in total shock due to having zero knowledge of HPV and the fact that a virus could cause throat cancer. HPV causes 70% of oropharyngeal cancers in the United States.

McInerney wanted his daughters to still be able to depend on him as the rock of the family. He shared that his late wife was already battling breast cancer, and he wanted to remain a stable presence for his children. He decided to undergo his treatment stoically so that his children would not see his pain.

After treatment and receiving a second chance at life, McInerney knew he had a mission to spread awareness about the importance of individuals receiving the HPV vaccine to protect them against the 6 different cancers, including oropharyngeal cancer, the most common cancer caused by HPV. McInerney made sure that his new wife and all 3 of his children received their HPV vaccinations.

In McInerney’s spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family, fly fishing, woodwork, hiking, camping—and mostly being an advocate hero.

The HPV Vaccination Roundtable of the Southeast brings together people working in southeastern states to improve HPV vaccination coverage. It builds on previous work facilitated by the National HPV Vaccination Roundtable and the American Cancer Society.

The final of 3 reconvening meetings with 12 southeastern states and Puerto Rico occurred in May. Nearly 150 people attended to learn about happenings across Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Puerto Rico.

The presentations discussed success stories in each state, including:

Create HPV vaccination toolkits
Offer provider trainings
Host an HPV vaccination conference
Organize diverse partners and individual advocates
Develop a state HPV task force and educating parents and youth regarding HPV, HPV-related cancers and the vaccine.

The state updates included challenges they face such engaging community clinics in research, parent hesitancy, the COVID-19 pandemic, lack of complete HPV vaccination data and lack of forecasts for HPV vaccination beginning at age 9.

All the states shared opportunities to improve HPV vaccination coverage, which included:

Engage nontraditional providers such as pharmacists and dentists
Leverage cancer control collaboratives to implement evidence-based interventions
Reach diverse populations

At the end of the third meeting, priority action steps were summarized based on the state updates and virtual engagement. These action steps are:

Address vaccine hesitancy.
Increase equity in HPV vaccinations while utilizing trusted messengers and non-traditional partners.
Implement education and outreach strategies to encourage provider recommendation and parental acceptance of vaccination at age 9.
Prioritize efforts and populations where vaccine coverage lags, such as rural communities.
Increase legislative advocacy and implementation of policies supporting HPV vaccination.
Leverage IIS as a tool to support vaccination and enhance data.

Training and technical assistance experiences will be offered in September and November, followed with an in-person conference in December.

Visit the HPV Vaccination Roundtable of the Southeast webpage at stjude.org/southeast-roundtable and join the listserv to stay updated on activities.

Email PreventHPV@stjude.org for more information.

When it comes to HPV Vaccination coverage, rural health clinics have not benefited from the extensive efforts to encourage strong provider recommendations for the HPV vaccine and clinic-based interventions that can support changes in clinic practices and policies. The reasons for this deficit are complex. For the most part, national and state organizations have focused efforts on health systems and practices with larger numbers of patients.

Early HPV vaccine promotion focused on pediatricians who typically do not practice in small, rural clinics. Rural clinics may not have large professional networks, so their clinicians are less likely to learn about effective methods for promoting the HPV vaccine. Rural health clinics are often not part of a larger health system and do not have access to the same resources as those in larger health systems. For example, rural health clinics could lack information technology support for electronic health records or staff dedicated to quality improvement.

Due to these challenges, more emphasis needs to be placed on reaching rural clinics and adapting existing effective interventions for these settings. In collaboration with our partner, the American Cancer Society (ACS), we used state immunization registry data and the list of Vaccine for Children liaisons to identify rural clinics that were not in larger health systems and were in areas with low HPV vaccination rates.

We recruited 2 small health systems with 3 clinics each to participate with ACS in an intervention that included:

Support for quality improvement
Training and technical assistance
Performance evaluation

The University of Iowa Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network Center conducted an evaluation to understand the implementation of the intervention. Preliminary findings after the first year of the intervention indicated some increase in initiation of the vaccine (see Figure 1).

Major barriers included:

Insufficient numbers of staff to attend intervention meetings and implement the changes
Challenges related to COVID-19
Inability to efficiently use the electronic health record system

Learn more here

We invite guest contributors to share information on how they are working to improve HPV vaccination in rural areas. If you are interested in contributing or learning more about our efforts to improve HPV vaccination with rural communities, please email us at PreventHPV@stjude.org.

The American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) House of Delegates hosted “HPV Vaccination is Cancer Prevention” for PAs, and the St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program served as a sponsor. This event brought together individuals from 58 state chapters representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, as well as federal service chapters, specialty organizations, caucuses, and AAPA students. The conference took place May 20, with approximately 5,500 PAs and students in attendance.

The event included presentations from Heather M. Brandt, PhD, of St. Jude and guest speaker Chris Barry, PA-C, MMSc, DFAAPA of Jeffers, Mann & Artman Pediatrics in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The presentation emphasized the important role of a health care provider’s recommendation for HPV vaccination and provided the following action steps:

1. FOLLOW THE LATEST GUIDELINES FOR HPV VACCINATION (CDC.GOV/HPV).

On-time HPV vaccination by the 13th birthday works best to prevent HPV cancers.
Routine vaccination is recommended for people ages 9 to 26.
Some people ages 27 to 45 who did not receive HPV vaccination when younger may benefit. Talk with them on a case-by-case basis to understand what is appropriate.

2. GIVE A STRONG RECOMMENDATION.

What you say matters; how you say it matters even more.
Offer every age-eligible person the HPV vaccination the same day and same way as other recommended vaccines.
Be clear and confident. HPV vaccination is cancer prevention. It’s safe, it works and it provides long-lasting protection.

3. ANSWER QUESTIONS.

Address any concerns the patient and/or parents may have about HPV vaccination.
Keep asking. Even if someone refuses once, they may have more questions for you to answer and may say yes next time.

4. MAKE IT A TEAM EFFORT.

Everyone in the health care setting plays a role in promoting HPV cancer prevention.
·Ensure that your entire team is educated about HPV vaccination.
Engage all clinical and office staff in your efforts to improve HPV vaccination and reduce missed opportunities for cancer prevention.

Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) is offering a limited series podcast produced by the iREACH team at AIM. This informative series discusses various topics such as chronic health conditions, heart disease, diabetes, clinical depression, and the power of getting vaccinated and adopting healthy lifestyles. Each episode provides tips and examples for community leaders for vaccine equity initiatives for specific health conditions within their community. Listen to the latest episode of “Building Trust and Vaccine Access.”

National Cancer Survivors Day is a day of celebration to recognize survivors and raise awareness of the ongoing challenges and to celebrate life. This year’s celebration took place June 4, and this year’s theme was “A Celebration of Life.”

Childhood cancer survivors are at an elevated risk of developing new HPV related infections and cancers primarily due to cancer-directed therapy, which weakens their immune systems. Both male and female cancer survivors are susceptible to HPV-related secondary cancers, including oropharyngeal, anal, and penile cancer in males; and cervical, oropharyngeal, anal, vaginal, and vulvar cancer in females. HPV vaccination prevents almost all HPV-related cancers.

The risk of developing subsequent HPV-related infections and cancers can be prevented through HPV vaccination, but uptake of the HPV vaccine is substantially lower in childhood cancer survivors. Research indicates that HPV vaccination initiation rates in young cancer survivors are significantly lower than the general population (23.8% vs. 40.5%, respectively).

Primary reasons for lower HPV vaccination in childhood cancer survivors include:

Vaccine hesitancy
Lack of vaccine information
Safety concerns
Family decision-making processes
Lack of health care provider recommendations.

Evidence shows that health care provider recommendation is one of the strongest predictors for HPV vaccine uptake among childhood cancer survivors. Childhood cancer survivors trust their oncologist and often prefer to continue to visit their oncologist after cancer treatment for follow-up care. Despite the HPV vaccine being safe and effective in childhood cancer survivors, lower uptake of the vaccine among this population is an ongoing challenge.

Learn more about the importance of HPV vaccination for childhood cancer survivors on the
Childhood Cancer Fact Sheet and at together.stjude.org.

Founder and Chief Visioary of Cervivor, Tamika Felder, has shared her cervical cancer survivorship story across communities for over 20 years. Felder often spoke of burying her hope of having children while building a culture of courage and hope for other cervical cancer survivors. “When cervical cancer took so much from her, she birthed Cervivor, and from the love of this community came the gift of motherhood she always dreamed of,” said Carol Lacey, lead Cervivor ambassador.

After many years of pouring into others, Felder and her husband, Rocky, were given a life-changing gift when Ginny Marable and her husband, Sean, donated their unused embryos. Still, the Felders were faced with challenges related to the costs of surrogacy. Tamika contacted Joyce Reinecke, a longstanding connection who is also a fellow cancer survivor, mom by surrogacy, and the executive director of the Alliance for Fertility Preservation. Through Reinecke, Tamika was connected to an attorney, another cancer survivor and mom via surrogacy, Rijon Charne, who eventually led her to Stephanie Levich who helped to secure more than $90,000 worth of services.

Tamika will never forget the day her son was born and she was able to hold him and gaze into his eyes. This was a feeling she longed for, and her dreams finally came true. She will also never forget the generosity and support she received from others.

“None of this would be possible without me sharing my story. I don't know if people truly get that part. Our stories have the power to change and move people, which is important in our work to stop HPV-related cancers,” she said.

Read Felder's Story in People.

As the school year comes to an end, it is never too early to begin preparing for next year. Parents, get a jumpstart on your child’s back-to-school vaccinations and avoid the long lines. Well-child visits and recommended vaccinations are essential to ensure children stay healthy and prevent vaccine-preventable diseases.

Talk to your doctor about the HPV vaccine and get your child vaccinated against HPV before their 13th birthday.

The St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program sponsors “Path to a Bright Future,” a public awareness campaign to spotlight the benefits of on-time HPV vaccination to prevent cancer in children ages 9-12. The campaign also elevates awareness of the dangers of HPV pre-cancers and cancers. If you would like to know about “Path to a Bright Future” Campaign and become a partner to support back-to-school vaccination, email PreventHPV@stjude.org.

Alabama

Alabama has launched “Operation Wipe Out Cervical Cancer Alabama” to eliminate cervical cancer in Alabama by 2033. A recent press conference announced and highlighted the plans of action.

Four HPV vaccination targets were identified to achieve the goal of elimination:

Increase HPV vaccination initiation (one dose) to 90% among Alabama children ages 9–12 (priority group) and 80% among Alabama children ages 13–17 (catch-up group) by 2033.
Increase HPV vaccination dose completion to 80% among Alabama children ages 9–12 (priority group) and 80% among Alabama children ages 13 and up (catch-up group) by 2033.
Increase HPV vaccination initiation (one dose) to 70% and dose completion to 60% among Alabama young adults ages 18–26 by 2033.
Increase the total number of providers across the state enrolled in Immunization Patient Registry with Integrated Technology (ImmPRINT). ImmPRINT is a statewide vaccination database for children and adults managed by the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) Immunization Division.

Other targets include a focus on cervical cancer screening and follow-up treatment. The St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program looks forward to supporting this effort.

Arkansas

The St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program team has partnered to support a grant that the Arkansas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (ARAAP) received to address childhood vaccines and HPV vaccines, particularly in under-vaccinated/high-exemption areas. As a part of the grant, ARAAP is conducting site visits to 4–6 pediatric clinics in communities with lower vaccine rates or lower rates of Medicaid well-child visits.

The St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program team was invited to accompany ARAAP on these visits. The first 3 stops were in Forrest City, Ashdown, and Harrison, Arkansas. The goal of these site visits is to help increase the HPV vaccination completion rates and to share messaging that HPV vaccination is cancer prevention.

Louisiana

Louisiana Families for Vaccines and Louisiana Vaccine Alliance hosted a Day of Action on May 8 in Baton Rouge. The Louisiana Families for Vaccines is a volunteered-led, grassroots network of Louisianans dedicated to advocating for public health and fact-based public policy and promoting vaccinations for healthier kids and communities.

Louisiana Vaccine Alliance is a group of physicians, parents, and community members working to reduce vaccine-preventable disease across the lifespan through education, advocacy, and strategic partnership. The St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program hosted a table where they interacted with and provided resources to legislators and community leaders about the importance of HPV vaccination.

Learn more by visiting Louisiana Families for Vaccines or Louisiana Vaccine Alliance | Louisiana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Mississippi

Amy Ellis, associate director at the American Cancer Society (ACS) and MSHPV Roundtable coordinator, highlighted some amazing things taking place in Mississippi during the HPV Vaccination Roundtable of the Southeast meeting.

ACS is partnering with the Mississippi Department of Health (MSDH) Office of Oral Health and the University of Mississippi School of Dentistry. Ellis announced that dentists can now give the HPV vaccine in Mississippi thanks to Angela Filzen, DDS, at the Department of Health. Filzen was able to get the dentists approved to give the vaccine. This opened a partnership with the University of Mississippi School of Dentistry, who saw this as an opportunity to become a VFC provider and start having some of their students provide vaccines to some of the delta schools in Mississippi

Ellis also highlighted the MS HPV Call to Action. The call to action included 52 partners with the same vision to protect Mississippi children from HPV-related cancers.

The American Cancer Society and MS HPV Roundtable representatives joined ACS CAN at the Mississippi State Capitol on March 1 to share with 174 legislators about the importance of the HPV Vaccine and how it can prevent 6 HPV-related cancers.

Learn more about the Mississippi HPV Roundtable

Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee

Motivational Interviewing

The St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program team has partnered to support a grant that the Arkansas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (ARAAP) received to address childhood vaccines and HPV vaccines, particularly in under-vaccinated/high-exemption areas. As a part of the grant, ARAAP is conducting site visits to 4–6 pediatric clinics in communities with lower vaccine rates or lower rates of Medicaid well-child visits.

The St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program team was invited to accompany ARAAP on these visits. The first 3 stops were in Forrest City, Ashdown, and Harrison, Arkansas. The goal of these site visits is to help increase the HPV vaccination completion rates and to share messaging that HPV vaccination is cancer prevention.

The Memphis and Shelby County HPV Cancer Prevention Roundtable Mid-year meeting also took place on May 9 in Memphis. The meeting provided members and HPV partners with a robust progress report of HPV vaccination initiatives taking place locally. Naloni Howard of BlueCare Tennessee, provided a comprehensive overview of a new HPV Vaccination pilot for Primary Care Medical Home providers in Memphis and Shelby County.

Joseph Granato from the Tennessee Department of Health shared new updates to the Tennessee Immunization Information System. See the following Tennessee Department of Heath page to view the new immunization coverage rate dashboard.

These two events on May 9 are examples of how the HPV Roundtable continues to grow its planned initiatives to increase local HPV vaccination. Make sure to save the date for the upcoming 3rd Annual HPV Roundtable on September 19. We are excited to celebrate and highlight what Roundtable has accomplished during year 3.

Become a member of the Memphis and Shelby County HPV Cancer Prevention Roundtable to learn more about activities aimed at increasing HPV vaccination. For more information, visit stjude.org/memphis-roundtable.

Karlisa Cryer joined the St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program as a medical content writer in May 2023. Cryer is a native Memphian that grew up in the Whitehaven area. She is married to Alton Cryer. They have 2 sons, Kaiden (age 3), and Alonzo (age 1).

Karlisa truly values the mission and work of St. Jude. She is passionate about writing, and she is excited to serve on the HPV Cancer Prevention Team and contribute in an impactful way.

Cryer has worked in communications and digital content for United Way of the Mid- South, Teach for America, and ALSAC.

An avid reader, you can find her at the library or Barnes & Noble on the weekends. She truly enjoys spending time with family, inspirational blogging, trying out new recipes, and volunteering with her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha.

Karlisa holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in communications and a master’s degree in public administration from Tennessee State University.

June is the sixth month of the year, which means there are only 6 more months before the year ends. The St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program Team shared some of their goals that they would like to accomplish within the next 6 months.

“I have a personal goal to read 1 book a month. So far, I am on track to completing 12 books by December. As for professional goals, I would like to become as much of a subject matter expert on HPV cancer prevention as possible by the end of the year.” – Karlisa Cryer, medical content writer

“I would like to categorize my goals as professional and personal goals.
(1) Professional goals: I plan submit 2 manuscripts related to HPV vaccination for publication—1 in June and another by the end of year 2023.
(2) Personal goals: I would like to travel to Nepal to see my family.” – Pragya Gautam Poudel, postdoctoral fellow

“I want to spend more time with my family and find a new hobby to keep myself balanced.” – Portia Knowlton, program coordinator

“I would like to start planning my retirement.”– Ursula Leflore, administrative specialist

“I would really like to get back to going on my daily walks or the gym.”– Duha Magzoub, program coordinator

“I want to volunteer in the local community. Like many cities, Memphis needs volunteers to help lift the agendas that serve to educate and promote growth among its residents.”– Carol Minor, program coordinator

“My goal is to find balance that allows me to succeed academically and professionally while also prioritizing time with my family.”– Julia Brown, program manager

“At the start of the year I said that I would start to have weekly playdates with my mother and other aging relatives. I have not done that enough, so I’ll reset and start planning out our summer.”– Andrea Stubbs, administrative director

“I feel like I am making good progress on my 2023 goals, so I want to continue to make progress. And I really want to figure out fancy cake decorating before the end-of-the-year holiday season.” – Heather Brandt, director

The St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program’s Path to a Bright Future campaign spotlights the benefits of on-time HPV vaccination to prevent cancer in children ages 9–12. The campaign also raises awareness of the dangers of HPV pre-cancers and cancers.

Join us:

Get your child vaccinated against HPV by their 13th birthday: If you or your child is in the recommended age range (ages 9–26 and possibly until age 45), get vaccinated.
Encourage others to get their children vaccinated: Normalize HPV vaccination as cancer prevention.
Share the facts: HPV vaccination is safe, effective, and durable. It prevents 6 types of cancer.

Learn more and join the campaign.