Interview with Cathy J. Bradley, Ph.D.
June 28, 2007
By: Alan B. Keesee, MHA Class of 2009

Dr. Cathy J. Bradley is a remarkable scholar whose research is instrumental to the advancement of policies that improve the lives of patients living with cancer. She received her Master of Public Administration and Doctorate in Health Policy and Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Following graduate studies, she was appointed as an Assistant Professor with a strong research emphasis in the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University, where she was later awarded the Distinguished Faculty Award in 2005. Over the course of her career, she has secured over $10 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health and published numerous articles on health outcomes with regard to cancer and its treatment.

Currently, she holds a joint appointment as Professor in the Department of Health Administration and as co-leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program of the Massey Cancer Center at Virginia Commonwealth University. In this role, Dr. Bradley is in a unique position to continue her research on cancer by interacting with patients at the Massey Cancer Center. This vantage point is the backdrop for her most recent grant.

In May 2007, Dr. Bradley and her colleagues received a $3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study the effects of employer-based health insurance on the labor decisions and treatment choices of women with breast cancer. Over the next five years, a team of researchers led by Dr. Bradley will follow 500 women from the central Virginia region recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Original data regarding work habits, treatment decisions, spousal employment, insurance options, and health outcomes will be collected and analyzed to examine decision-making under various scenarios.

Prior research conducted by Dr. Bradley and her colleagues indicates that women diagnosed with cancer and with health insurance through a spouse took more time off work to pursue treatment and recovery, relative to women who maintained health insurance through their own employers. Furthermore, single women with children rarely missed any work, and occasionally forwent treatment to continue working. Under the current grant, Dr. Bradley aims to solidify the underpinnings of how various insurance and familial arrangements influence the tough decisions women make when confronted with the reality of breast cancer.

The implications of this work are profound. Employer-based programs dominate the American health insurance industry. Understanding the effects this insurance structure has on individual cancer treatment options is crucial to ensure that all patients are able to choose the most effective and efficient care. To date, minimal research exists to complete this body of knowledge. Thus, Dr. Bradley’s efforts will greatly enhance our understanding of the implications, good or bad, of financing health care through employers. As health care reform takes a prime role in the political realm, such research is of national importance and is crucial to making informed policy decisions.

Dr. Bradley is truly passionate about cancer research. While her efforts do not involve analyzing cancer cells, her contribution to understanding limitations in the current health care delivery system will certainly affect patients and potentially pave the way for a more effective means of fighting cancer.