Hayley S. Thompson, Ph.D. is a tenured full professor in Department of Oncology at the Wayne State University (WSU) School of Medicine and associate center director (ACD) of Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) at Karmanos Cancer Institute (KCI), a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. Before serving as ACD, Dr. Thompson was Program Leader for the KCI Population Studies and Disparities Research (PSDR) program from 2016-2018. 

Dr. Thompson is the inaugural ACD for COE and the founding faculty supervisor of the KCI’s Office of COE, which supports a 46-county catchment area in Michigan serving 6.8M people.  She has been instrumental in its creation and growth.  In her role, she oversees four sections with the COE Office: 1) Catchment Area Data and Responsive Programs; 2) Scientific Engagement and Capacity Building; 3) Partnerships; and 4) Cancer Prevention, Screening, and Connection to Care.  These areas include multiple projects and programs, including Michigan Cancer HealthLink, a statewide network of eight Cancer Action Councils (CACs) that include cancer survivors, caregivers, and advocates as members; a Research and Advocacy Consortium (RAC) with over 40 community-based organizations and government agencies; the Building Your Capacity (BYC) research training curriculum for community members; and Karmanos Academy, which trains lay health advisors to provide cancer education.

Dr. Thompson also has a strong track record as a scientific researcher. She is a clinical psychologist whose research addresses racial and ethnic differences in cancer care and outcomes, including cancer survivorship. Over her career, she has received $18M in funding from NCI, Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHRQ), American Cancer Society (ACS), and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), as well as multiple philanthropic foundations.  She is currently MPI of an NCI-funded P01 subproject to increase genetic counseling and testing among high-risk African American cancer survivors (P01CA272239) and she is recent past MPI of the African American Resilience in Surviving Cancer (ARISE) study (R01CA232514). Her research also extends to assessment. She led the development of the Group-Based Medical Mistrust Scale (GBMMS), a measure of medical mistrust based in one’s group membership and social position.  It is widely used in health disparities research and has been administered to participants of more than 170 published peer-reviewed research studies. The original article has been cited over 500 times, with more than half of these citations since 2019, suggesting that this work remains highly relevant.  In total, Dr. Thompson has 78 peer-reviewed publications (13 as first author, 13 as senior author), as well as two book chapters and six op-eds/commentaries.

Dr.  Thompson is also founding director of the WSU Community-Engaged Collaborative for the Promotion of Access to Technology and Health (CEC-PATH).  CEC-PATH is a university-wide initiative to build and sustain community-academic health research partnerships. This includes Detroit Community Health Alliance and Partnerships (D-CHAP), a coalition of 40+ community-based organizations, residents, and academic faculty/staff actively collaborating on projects related to food/nutrition security, resource navigation to address social determinants of health, and the digital divide/digital opportunity.  CEC-PATH also coordinates the Community Health Scholars Program, with the goal of preparing laypeople to serve as partners and leaders in research as advisory board members, consultants, or community co-investigators, as well as formal research staff. The Faith Community Research Network is also part of this CEC-PATH.  This network was established in 2020 and includes predominantly Black churches in the Detroit metropolitan area that meet monthly and work together to support health and well-being among the area’s residents.