Chrystelle Vilfranc, PhD: Building a Bridge Between Researchers and Community

At just nine years old, Chrystelle Vilfranc, PhD, witnessed firsthand the toll that cancer can take on families. Losing her favorite cousin to non-Hodgkin lymphoma, who was only 27 when he passed away, left her struck by grief and confusion.

“I was really young and had a hard time understanding why the doctors didn’t have all the answers and couldn’t cure him,” says Vilfranc, associate director of research integration for the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center’s (HICCC) Community Outreach and Engagement Office (COE). “After that, I became really interested in cancer and set out on a journey to find the answers for myself.”

At the time, the only career path she knew of that would help get her there was becoming a physician. Vilfranc, a child of Caribbean immigrants who lived in Brooklyn, moved to Alabama to study biochemistry at Oakwood University, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), with the goal of applying to medical schools. An undergraduate research opportunity opened her eyes to the possibility of getting a PhD instead.

“I ended up going to graduate school for a PhD in cancer and cell biology to expand my mind and understand all of the different things I could learn about how cancer works,” she says. 

Today, Vilfranc acts as a liaison between HICCC and the population it serves, fostering collaboration between researchers and community members to bridge the gap between scientific discovery and public impact. The HICCC’s catchment area — the five New York City boroughs, Westchester and Rockland Counties in New York, and Bergen County in New Jersey — is home to almost 11 million people with a wide range of backgrounds and socioeconomic status.

She is leading a new initiative to have HICCC researchers present their work during Community Advisory Board (CAB) meetings. The 14 CAB members help facilitate outreach, education, and policy initiatives by providing essential advice and input to the COE, which is then reported back to the cancer center. Their expertise ranges from environmental action, local knowledge of community resources, school-based programs, community outreach, and faith-based programming.

Recently, Peter Sims, PhD, associate professor of systems biology, spoke to CAB members about the Precision Oncology and Systems Biology Program and its catchment-area relevant research. He shared the work of his lab, in collaboration with the Gabriele Bartoli Brain Tumor Laboratory, on a new convection-enhanced drug delivery system that works to overcome the blood brain barrier.

“It was really a phenomenal talk. He was a great presenter, and the CAB members were very engaged,” Vilfranc says. “It is a perfect way for them to get an idea of what kind of research is  going on, and for the researchers to better understand what some of the priorities of the community are.”

Vilfranc also aids in the translation of groundbreaking cancer center research to the community through the COE newsletter and works closely with CAB members to gather input on grant applications for internal funding.

Her background in academic research motivates her work at the COE, since she knows the divide between scientists and the general public can be vast. She loves giving community talks about cancer biology and liver cancer — the focus of her PhD work — as a way to disseminate knowledge that has the potential to save lives. Her dissertation research involved using basic science, molecular and cell biology approaches to determine the role of a key protein in protecting the liver against injury.

In her view, educational outreach provides an opportunity to remove access barriers in cancer prevention, screening, treatment, and survivorship services. And Vilfranc wholeheartedly believes that including and involving communities that are underrepresented in health research is key to impactful research and better overall health among these communities.

But the transition from research to community-based work wasn’t easy. As a Black woman in STEM, Vilfranc often felt unsupported and alone during her graduate studies. She made the hard decision to leave basic science and, upon graduating with her PhD in 2021, explored science journalism through the AAAS Mass Media Fellowship with a stint at the Indianapolis Star.

Afterwards, Vilfranc completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in cancer related population science in the department of epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. Her work focused on environmental exposure studies as well as breast cancer disparities research with a focus on postpartum breast cancer. Her mentor, Jasmine McDonald, PhD, a Black woman who moved from basic science to public health, provided the example she needed to pivot to a career in community outreach and engagement.

“Representation is really a big thing. Coming up in STEM, I didn't really see a lot of people that looked like me,” Vilfranc says. “I haven't 'made it' yet in any way, but I do hope that my journey can inspire young Black women in STEM and others, just to show them that you don't always have to take the traditional route."