Phoenix A Matthews, PhD, MS, BS, LCP

  • Professor of Behavioral Sciences (in Nursing)

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Overview

Phoenix A. Matthews is nationally and internationally known for their health disparities research with underserved populations. They are a professor and clinical psychologist with more than 25 years of experience in examining determinants of cancer-related health disparities with a focus on racial/ethnic minorities and other underserved populations. They also serve as the co-director for community outreach and engagement at the Hebert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC).

Matthews's more recent research focuses on the use of community-based and culturally targeted health promotion interventions to reduce risk factors associated with cancer disparities, including smoking cessation treatments. Matthews has served as the PI of six NIH-funded grants and co-investigator for several others and is the author of over 180 peer-reviewed publications. They have extensive experience in community outreach and engagement as the former director of community engagement at the University of Illinois Chicago Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences.

Academic Appointments

  • Professor of Behavioral Sciences (in Nursing)

Administrative Titles

  • Co-Director, Community Outreach and Engagement Core, HICCC

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • PhD, State University of New York at Binghamton (now Binghamton University)
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, Prevention Research Center (now Institute for Health Research Policy)
  • MA, State University of New York at Binghamton (now Binghamton University)
  • BS, Muskingum College (now Muskingum University

Honors & Awards

  • 2022, Julie and Mark Zerwic Diversity Award, College of Nursing, University of Illinois Chicago
  • 2018, College of Nursing Distinguished Researcher Award, University of Illinois Chicago
  • 2015, City of Chicago's Office of Human Relations LGBT Hall of Fame Inductee
  • 2014, Healthy Chicago Award, Chicago Department of Public Health, Chicago, IL
  • 2014, Gay and Lesbian Medical Association Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality Achievement Award

Research

Dr. Matthews has extensive experience researching and developing health promotion interventions to reduce risk factors associated with cancer disparities. Their intervention research has focused on using community-based and culturally targeted interventions to improve smoking cessation outcomes and increase the uptake of lung cancer screening. They are currently the MPI for two NIH-funded interventions to reduce the risk of lung cancer among low-income and racial/ethnic minority groups. These projects focus on smoking cessation and lung cancer screening, respectively.

At Columbia, Dr. Matthews facilitates and addresses population-specific barriers to cancer screenings and ensures the rigor and scientific integrity of research studies at the HICCC by helping to develop study protocols and procedures that increase the equitable involvement of a diverse range of study participants.

Grants

  • U54 CA280808
    Tamimi (contact), Phillips, Terry, & Matthews (MPI)
    05/31/2023 – 04/30/2028
    Center for SOcial CApital (SOCA): Promoting Multigenerational Health
  • UG3/UH3 HL151302
    Donenberg (Contact) & Matthews
    UG3 09/2020 – 08/2023, UH3 09/2023-08/2027
    Mi QUIT CARE (Mile Square QUIT Community-Access-Referral-Expansion)
  • R01 MD014839
    Kim, Watson, & Winn (MPI), Role: Co-Investigator
    05/2021 – 01/2026
    Reducing racial disparities in lung cancer outcomes by decoding neighborhood contextual environment (RECODE)

Selected Publications

  1. Matthews, A.K., Inwanna, S., Oyaluade, D., Akufo, J., Jeremiah, R., & Kim, S.J. (2023). Examination of provider knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors associated with lung cancer screening among Black men receiving care at a federally qualified health center.?Qualitative Research in Medicine & Healthcare,?7(3), 11546. PMCID: PMC10726993
  1. Kim, S.J., Kery, C., An, J., Rineer, J., Bobashev, G., & Matthews, A.K. (2024). Racial/ethnic disparities in exposure to neighborhood violence and lung cancer risk in Chicago.?Social Science & Medicine,?340, 116448. PMCID: PMC10836639
  1. Hitsman, B., Matthews, A.K., Papandonatos, G.D., Cameron, K.A., Rittner, S.S., Mohanty, N., ... & Simon, M.A. (2022). An EHR-automated and theory-based population health management intervention for smoking cessation in diverse low-income patients of safety-net health centers: a pilot randomized controlled trial.?Translational behavioral medicine,?12(9), 892-899. PMCID: PMC9540977
  2. Matthews, A.K., Conrad, M., Kuhns, L., Vargas, M., & King, A.C. (2013). Project Exhale: Preliminary evaluation of a tailored smoking cessation treatment for HIV-positive African American smokers.?AIDS Patient Care and STDs,?27(1), 22-32.
  3. Matthews, A.K., McCabe, S.E., Lee, J.G., & Veliz, P. (2018). Differences in smoking prevalence and eligibility for low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) lung cancer screening among older US adults: role of sexual orientation.?Cancer Causes & Control, 29(8), 769-774. PMCID:?PMC6045449

For a full list of Phoenix Matthews's publications, visit https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/alicia.matthews.1/bibliography/40836088/public/