Natalie R. Gassman, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, has been appointed Associate Director of Access, Belonging and Culture in the UAB O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, effective February 1, 2025.
The Associate Director for Access, Belonging and Culture provides leadership in developing and delivering strategies, programs, tools and education to promote the professional development, leadership and retention of faculty in the UAB O'Neal Cancer Center. Gassman will assume the role from Dr. Rodney Tucker, the inaugural Associate Director for Access, Belonging and Culture, who has served in the position for two years. She also leads the Community Builders Program, developed by Tucker, which is comprised of faculty and staff throughout the O’Neal Cancer Center serving as ambassadors for promoting all aspects of cancer workforce development. Members of the program work closely with the Cancer Research Training and Education Coordination Committee to strengthen recruitment and retention and the Office of Community Outreach and Engagement to provide community education on the O’Neal Cancer Center’s mission and goals.
Gassman joined UAB in 2021 as both an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and as a scientist in the O’Neal Cancer Center, Center for Clinical and Translational Science, and Center for Women’s Reproductive Health. She joined the Department of Pathology as associate professor on January 1, 2025.
Gassman’s research focuses on examining the impact of environmental factors on DNA repair and how DNA repair proteins change in cancer. She has been influential in developing different leadership and career development training tracks in the O’Neal Cancer Center.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Natalie Gassman on her new role.