Our Leaders: Dedicated to Creating Vibrant, Affordable Housing Communities

Dr. James R. Zabora stepped into the office as Dean of the National Catholic School of Social Service and Professor of Social Work for the Catholic University of America, after a 20-year career at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where he served as an Assistant Professor of Oncology in the School of Medicine with two secondary appointments as an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences & Health Policy and Management.

As an administrator, he served as one of the five Associate Directors in the Comprehensive Cancer Center with a special focus on community programs and research. In addition, he was the administrator of the Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program for low-income women living in Baltimore City. In this role, he was the primary author of the Baltimore City Cancer Plan for Johns Hopkins under the Cigarette Restitution Fund for the State of Maryland. As a result of the success of these initiatives, he was appointed Co-Director of the Baltimore City Cancer Plan and Co-Director for Community Outreach and Education of the Urban Environmental Health Center in the School of Public Health.

Prior to Johns Hopkins, Dr. Zabora served as Associate Director of the Southeast Baltimore Drug Treatment Program which delivered innovative treatment modalities to narcotic addicts and multi-drug users. Currently, Dr. Zabora maintains a Visiting Professorship at Johns Hopkins, and his research continues to focus on psychosocial screening, problem-solving education, and quality of life among cancer patients and their families.

Dr. Zabora is the Editor of the Journal of Psychosocial Oncology and the author of more than 60 papers and book chapters on cancer prevention, psychosocial screening, and community program development, quality of life, and problem-solving education. His research has won numerous awards at Johns Hopkins and, recently, his research team received the Annual Quality of Life Research Award from the National Office of the American Cancer Society. Dr. Zabora regularly delivers keynote addresses at international, national, and regional health care conferences and has presented over 300 invited lectures across the United States, Canada, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Finally, in March of 2007 at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society, Dr. Zabora will receive the Holland Distinguished Leadership Award based on his "outstanding contributions (in clinical practice, education, research and leadership) in the field of psychosocial oncology."

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