Clinical Expert

Mellisa Wheeler has over 20 years of experience in health care with a specialized focus in oncology. Mellisa is the Director of the Disparities & Outreach program at Levine Cancer Institute, a department dedicated to eradicating the burden of cancer in underserved communities through prevention education, screening and early detection of the disease. Some of the programs under her direction include Project Pink, a mobile mammography effort geared toward bringing free breast cancer screening services to communities in need and the I CAN Cancer Ambassador program, an initiative designed to target high-risk school children and their parents to provide chronic disease and cancer prevention education. In 2016, Mellisa authored a grant proposal that resulted in $1.6 million funding for the nation’s first mobile lung cancer screening bus as part of the Lung B.A.S.E.S. 4 Life program. The initiative was awarded the Association for Community Cancer Centers Innovation award last fall. In 2017, Mellisa designed and launched Code T.O.M., a cancer prevention initiative created to educate firefighters and first regarding elevated cancer risk related to workplace exposures.