UAB Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery Assistant Professor Robert Hollis, M.D., MSPH, has been awarded $192,000 by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for his 5-year project, "Piloting an implementation strategy for mainstream genetic testing in colorectal cancer."

"Up to 15% of patients with colorectal cancer will have a pathogenic germline mutation in a cancer susceptibility gene, and knowledge of these mutations can inform treatment, prevention, and family cascade testing to lower colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. However, less than 6% of colorectal cancer patients undergo germline genetic testing," says Hollis. “This project will address this critical need by tailoring and pilot testing a multi-level implementation strategy to increase the adoption of main-stream genetic testing, or point-of-care genetic testing by non-genetic providers, for colorectal cancer patients.”

Dr. Hollis is a member of the UAB Institute of Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship, where he receives mentorship from Dr. Smita Bhatia. Additional mentors for this award include Daniel Chu, MD, Wendy Landier, PhD RN, Lisa Zubkoff, PhD, Joshua Richman, MD PhD (UAB), and Samir Gupta, MD (UC San Diego). This award supports Dr. Hollis’ long-term goal to use implementation science to improve outcomes in hereditary colorectal cancer patients.

Hollis is dedicated to enhancing clinical outcomes for colorectal cancer patients and serves as leader for Colorectal Cancer Management Team for the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center. He leads the UAB Hereditary Gastrointestinal Cancer Registry, and was awarded a $120,000 grant from the Alabama Department of Public Health to promote colorectal cancer screening for low-income residents at Jefferson County.

Hollis completed his medical degree, general surgery residency, and a Master of Science in Public Health at UAB. Following residency, he completed a colorectal surgery fellowship at Cleveland Clinic.