18. Impact of Medicaid Expansion under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on Lung Cancer Care in the US

Loretta Erhunmwunsee, M.D., F.A.C.S., joined City of Hope in 2015 and is an assistant professor in both the division of thoracic surgery and the division of health equity. Dr. Erhunmwunsee graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Emory University in Atlanta, GA and received her medical doctorate from Harvard Medical School in Boston, graduating magna cum laude.  She continued her post-graduate training at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC, completing a general and cardiothoracic surgery residency. Board-certified in both general and thoracic surgery, she became a fellow of the American College of Surgeons in 2018.

Dr. Erhunmwunsee is also a funded health equity researcher who focuses on the impact of social determinants and structural inequities on lung cancer risk, biology and screening. She is the recipient of the 2021 Lung Cancer Research Foundation William C. Rippe Award for Distinguished Research in Lung Cancer. She was also awarded the City of Hope Songs of Hope Beverly and Ben Horowitz Legacy Award in 2021. In 2022, she was invited to participate in the National Lung Cancer Roundtable forum on Lung Cancer Screening and is a member of their Health Equity Task Force. She has written numerous publications and given several local and national presentations that bring awareness to the impact of structural inequities on disparate health outcomes. Additionally, she is a Carol Emmott Foundation 2023 fellow.

Dr. Erhunmwunsee is also highly involved in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts both at COH and nationally. She sits on the COH DE&I Governance Council as well as co-leads the Health Equity in Diverse Populations Workstream at COH. She is also the Vice Chair of the NCCN DEI Director’s Forum and has been a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Workforce of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons since 2019.

Aitua is a thoracic surgeon with UT Southwestern Medical Center. He is interested in surgical outcomes and health services research.