Prior to joining Memorial Sloan Kettering, Dr. Gany was the founder and Director of the Center for Immigrant Health at the New York University School of Medicine; of the NYU Cancer Institute CORE Center (Cancer Outreach, Outcomes and Research for Equity); and of the Health Promotion, Disease Prevention, and Human Migration concentration in the NYU Global Masters of Public Health program. She has served as the Principal Investigator on a number of pioneering immigrant health studies in the areas of cancer, language access and cultural competence, technology and immigrant health, healthcare access, and cardiovascular disease.
Dr.Gany worked with the community to develop the NCI/NIH-funded Cancer Awareness Network for Immigrant and Minority Populations (CANIMP). CANIMP responds to the disparities in utilization of and participation of immigrants in cancer prevention, detection, and treatment services, and research. Currently in its 11th year, CANIMP works with the Latino, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Haitian, Chinese, Korean, and English-speaking Caribbean immigrant communities. CANIMP research includes both qualitative and quantitative methodology to enable the formation of a rich body of evidence to inform policy and practice. CANIMP has spawned several critical initiatives, including the Chinese American cancer survivorship research program, the Consulate Studies Program, the Latino Faith-Based Project, and the Cancer Portal Project and Immigrant Cancer Care Access Network(ICCAN). These programs address socioeconomic barriers to cancer treatment completion to help more than 800 at-risk individuals in 11 cancer programs to complete cancer treatment. The Center learned that over half of Portal patients are hungry while they are undergoing chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment. In response, they have started the FOOD (Food to Overcome Outcomes Disparities) Project, which studies the impact of medically tailored food pantries and food vouchers on cancer treatment outcomes.
Under CANIMP Dr. Gany also started the community health research program, which builds capacity in community based organizations to develop and implement community-based participatory research programs. Dr. Gany also developed the Junior Minority Research Program, a mentored research experience for junior investigators.
Dr. Gany has a strong interest in linguistic and cultural responsiveness in medicine, and has led various projects to enhance the provision of linguistic and culturally competent services. She was part of the team that developed the groundbreaking Remote Simultaneous Medical Interpreting System. and has also established a medical interpreting research laboratory to build the knowledge base on linguistically competent research and care. She is conducting research into current and best practices on culturally competent healthcare delivery and helped to develop a comprehensive cultural and linguistic responsiveness curriculum and trainings.
Dr. Gany has also taken the lead in implementing community-based approaches to enrolling immigrants in insurance, and in using technology to increase access to health care.
In recognition of her work, Dr. Gany has been awarded the Merit Award for Community Service from the Public Health Association of New York City, the Service Award of New York Perinatal Association, the Award for Outstanding Services to Refugees and Displaced Persons from the African Serv. Committee, the Alumni Award from the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, the Stewart Satter Family Prize for Social Entrepreneurship from New York University Stern School of Business, and the Community Health Research Leadership Award from the National Cancer Institute.
