Ms. Virginia Works To Mitigate Cancer Disparities for Black Women

The average age of diagnosis for pancreatic cancer is 70, according to the Mayo Clinic. Marquita Taylor was 25 when she was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in 2014.

“To this day, no physician has been able to tell me how or why I’m an anomaly,” she said. “The survival rate for pancreatic cancer is only 13%, so the fact that I’m still here is really remarkable and something that science has been unable to explain.”

Due to the lack of answers she found about her case, Taylor has now dedicated her career to boosting research into cancer disparities, particularly among Black women. 

Taylor was crowned the 2024 Ms. Virginia and will compete in the Ms. Black United States pageant in 2025. (Contributed photo)

Shortly after her diagnosis, she decided to pivot and earn a master’s in public health from the Morehouse School of Medicine, where she researched the links between environmental effects and cancer incidence. 

“That led me to determine that my cancer incident was environmental and related to food intake and lack of access to fresh produce,” she said.

Taylor is now the associate director of diversity, equity and inclusion of the University of Virginia’s Cancer Center, where she works to build an inclusive and culturally competent workforce through mentorship programs, development opportunities and new recruitment strategies.

We’re at the point now where by 2030, pancreatic cancer will be the second-leading cause of cancer death in the United States.

She is also an assistant professor in the UVA School of Medicine’s Department of Public Health Sciences, where she teaches about health equity and researches the cancer experiences and outcomes of Black women.

To balance her work with her personal life, Taylor decided she needed a hobby. So, she entered the Ms. Black United States pageant and was crowned Ms. Virginia. In 2025, she will compete for the national title. 

Her platform, like her work, centers around cancer education and the importance of early screening and healthy behaviors. Given the platform that pageantry provides across Virginia, she found it was a good way to spread awareness. 

“We’re at the point now where by 2030, pancreatic cancer will be the second-leading cause of cancer death in the United States,” Taylor said. “I didn’t have the opportunity to catch this early, so if I can help someone else, I will.”

In addition to her work at UVA, Taylor serves as an ambassador for the American Cancer Society’s VOICES of Black Women study, a long-term initiative aiming to enroll at least 100,000 Black women in the United States to better understand and improve health among their communities. Black women have been historically underrepresented in medical research, an issue this study aims to help solve. 

At the cancer center, Taylor has led training sessions on patient-provider relations, medical mistrust and unconscious biases. She said it’s important to teach that “no two patients are the same, and it’s important to listen to the patient and not treat people of color as a monolith.”

Only 5.7% of U.S. doctors identify as Black, whereas Black people make up 14.2% of the U.S. population.

As a child, Taylor often complained of symptoms that would have suggested pancreatic concerns. She believes there were many missed opportunities where physicians could have investigated her pain further, but didn’t. 

“For years, my parents would frequently take me to doctors who would tell me I just wasn’t getting enough sleep, or put me on medications that were only Band-Aids for my symptoms,” Taylor said. 

Her experience mirrors research from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention that found women of African descent are more likely to be diagnosed with later stages of cancer than women of other ethnic backgrounds. Reasons include lack of access to high-quality medical care and pervasive racial and gender biases that lead providers to dismiss Black women’s pain and concerns, leading to inadequate treatment across illnesses.

Taylor says her role as Ms. Virginia provides a good way to spread awareness around cancer education and the importance of early screening and healthy behaviors. (Contributed photo)

Another barrier to adequate treatment, she stresses, is the shortage of Black doctors in the United States. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, only 5.7% of U.S. doctors identify as Black, whereas Black people make up 14.2% of the U.S. population.

Taylor described having a positive experience with her oncologist after her initial diagnosis, a man of color who, in treating her, took into consideration the appearance of surgical scarring and preserving her fertility. 

Whether in her career, pageantry or her personal life, Taylor said everything revolves around her commitment to advancing the issues that are important to her.