{"id":214960,"date":"2026-04-01T20:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T20:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/214960\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T20:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T20:05:12","slug":"usf-health-tgh-to-use-state-innovation-funds-for-rural-cancer-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/214960\/","title":{"rendered":"USF Health, TGH to use state innovation funds for rural cancer care"},"content":{"rendered":"

With support from an almost $2 million award from the Florida Cancer Innovation Fund,
\n the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine<\/a> and the Tampa General Hospital (TGH) Cancer Institute<\/a> are leading a bold multidisciplinary initiative to eliminate geographic barriers
\n to cervical cancer care, leveraging AI-driven technology to reach Florida\u2019s rural
\n populations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For millions of Americans in rural communities, where you live can shape whether cancer
\n is detected early or too late. In Florida alone, more than 662,000 residents<\/a> live in non-metropolitan areas, where limited access to specialty cancer care and
\n lagging screening rates often result in late-stage diagnoses of preventable cancers.<\/p>\n

The new initiative, led by the University of South Florida and powered by Tampa General\u2019s
\n Care Coordination Center, will deploy high-tech, AI-based tools at four high-volume
\n primary care clinics serving rural areas. The project will replace fragmented screening
\n and follow-up processes with a coordinated system that supports patients from detection
\n through diagnosis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe already have the tools to prevent cervical cancer, but too often rural communities
\n lack the systems needed to deliver those tools,\u201d said project lead Dr. Matthew Anderson,
\n professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
\n and associate director of research analytics and shared resources at the TGH Cancer
\n Institute. \u201cThis award allows us to create continuity where it has historically been
\n missing, combining advanced technology with human-centered care so that where a woman
\n lives no longer determines her cancer risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite being almost entirely preventable, cervical cancer incidence continues to
\n rise in rural communities. In some Florida counties, more than half<\/a> are diagnosed at advanced stages, often because patients cannot access timely follow-up
\n care after an abnormal screening.<\/p>\n

Using an AI-enhanced navigation platform, clinicians will be able to identify patients
\n overdue for screening during routine visits, engage them in HPV self-testing, and
\n ensure that abnormal results trigger timely follow-up. When abnormal results occur,
\n the AI-driven tools will proactively flag patients requiring diagnostic evaluation
\n and help coordinate access to colposcopy and specialty care, even in counties where
\n those services are not locally available.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis award exemplifies USF Health\u2019s commitment to translating discovery into real-world
\n impact, and we are grateful to the Florida Cancer Innovation Fund for prioritizing
\n projects like this,\u201d said Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, executive vice president
\n of USF Health and dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. \u201cBy integrating
\n advanced informatics with clinical expertise and community partnership, this initiative
\n will improve health access and ultimately lead to better outcomes for patients across
\n Florida and beyond.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the center of the initiative is Tampa General\u2019s Care Coordination Center, a revolutionary
\n platform built by TGH in partnership with Palantir, a pioneer in the AI-power automation
\n space, whose work focuses on developing powerful software for data integration, analysis,
\n and decision-making. It now anchors this effort to transform rural cancer prevention.
\n The Care Coordination Center integrates more than 20 AI-driven applications that translate
\n real-time data into clinical action across hospital operations.<\/p>\n

Today, Tampa General\u2019s platform supports day-to-day operations across one of the nation\u2019s
\n largest academic hospitals, providing actionable insights to care teams.<\/p>\n

As part of the project, Dr. Anderson\u2019s team is adapting AI tools for cancer prevention
\n and bringing groundbreaking innovation to rural primary care settings, where early
\n intervention can significantly improve outcomes.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Care Coordination Center has already transformed how we deliver care within the
\n hospital,\u201d said John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital. \u201cThis initiative
\n demonstrates how those same innovations can be extended beyond our walls to strengthen
\n prevention, enable earlier detection and expand access to care for rural communities
\n across Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDelayed diagnosis fundamentally changes a cancer patient\u2019s trajectory,\u201d said Dr.
\n Eduardo Sotomayor, vice president and executive director of the TGH Cancer Institute.
\n \u201cThis forward-thinking project brings together the operational strengths of Tampa
\n General Hospital and the academic expertise of USF Health to ensure rural patients
\n can access timely screening and specialty care before disease progresses.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project builds on complementary Florida Cancer Innovation Fund-supported work
\n led by Usha Menon, senior associate vice president at USF Health, dean of the USF College of Nursing<\/a>, and Associate Director of Community Outreach and Engagement at TGH Cancer Institute
\n who is leading a separate initiative focused on high-risk HPV self-testing. Together,
\n the efforts support a coordinated, institution-wide approach to cervical cancer prevention.<\/p>\n

The Florida Cancer Innovation Fund is an arm of the Casey DeSantis Cancer Research
\n Program, which prioritizes cutting-edge cancer research and care throughout the state
\n in honor of the state\u2019s First Lady and her personal battle with breast cancer. The
\n First Lady announced a total of $60 million in cancer research funding throughout
\n the state at a ceremony at USF in September 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With support from an almost $2 million award from the Florida Cancer Innovation Fund, the USF Health Morsani…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-214960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}