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U of L and UK present cancer‑center work funded in part by tobacco settlement; presenters urge more screening and funding
Summary
University of Louisville and University of Kentucky leaders told the Tobacco Settlement Fund oversight committee that tobacco‑settlement and excise funds support cancer screening, trials and research; presenters highlighted screening shortfalls, mobile lung CT proposals and asked the committee to consider reallocations or increases to strengthen statewide access.
Jason Chesney, director and chief administrative officer of the University of Louisville Brown Cancer Center, told the Tobacco Settlement Agreement Fund Oversight Committee that the Brown Cancer Center receives roughly $4.4 million in state funding support — about $3.1 million via committee appropriations and roughly $1.2 million from a tobacco excise tax — and warned that Kentucky ranks among the highest U.S. states for cancer‑related deaths.
"Kentucky has the highest rate of cancer related deaths in the country, and I'm pretty proud to say we are now number 2," Chesney told members, adding that small changes in deaths ("40 more deaths") would change the state’s ranking and underscoring the human toll. He said the Brown Cancer Center used state funds to expand screenings, education and clinical trials and that the center conducted about 2,200 lung cancer screens last year and more than 5,000 educational events.
Chesney urged the committee to consider directing more state support to the two academic cancer centers and to leverage state appropriations with philanthropy and federal grants. He suggested several revenue‑linking ideas discussed in other states — for example, Arkansas’s approach of taxing medical cannabis receipts to fund health programs — and proposed mobile low‑dose CT units to reach rural heavy smokers.
Mark Evers, director of the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center, said Markey’s NCI comprehensive designation and statewide affiliate network allow the center to reach patients across nearly the entire state. He described a suite of prevention and research programs — including lung‑screening efforts that, he said, have contributed to faster declines in late‑stage lung cancer diagnoses in Appalachian Kentucky — and noted recruitment of tobacco‑control experts to strengthen work on cessation and treatment outcomes.
Committee members asked about root causes of the state’s high cancer burden, the role of smoking and vaping, and the limits of local health‑care access. Senator Boswell and others stressed behavioral and environmental contributors; Chesney and Evers emphasized access to high‑quality care and earlier detection as the most direct areas where state funding could change outcomes. Evers highlighted community partnerships (churches, community workers) and Medicaid expansion as tools that helped improve screening uptake.
Both centers described programs supported with state funds: lung‑screening mobile units, multidisciplinary clinics and work to increase clinical‑trial access in rural areas. Members thanked presenters and expressed interest in additional data and outreach plans; the committee closed the December meeting after the presentations.
