Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Dr. Jennifer J. Parker ’04
Physician Scientist at Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University
After completing an ISU undergraduate degree in biological sciences, Dr. Jennifer J. Parker continued her education at Stanford University’s Medical Scientist Training Program. She finished a medical degree and Ph.D. in chemical and systems biology there in 2012.
Parker has since completed a year of internal medicine training at Rush University followed by a year of residency in diagnostic radiology at Yale New Haven Hospital. She graduated in 2018 from a radiation oncology residency at Northwestern Hospital. She served as a clinical researcher in Northwestern University’s Department of Dermatology, working on established clinical trials and developing her own in conjunction with the Radiation Oncology Department to improve patient outcomes from radiation therapy.
Parker has conducted and published breast cancer, cervical cancer, and onco-dermatology clinical research. Beyond women’s cancer, she is interested in addressing biases in cancer patient treatment management, increasing underrepresented patient populations in clinical trials, and researching novel ways to reduce cancer treatment side effects. Her work has been presented nationally, and she was recognized in 2013 as a National Medical Association Top Healthcare Professional Under 40.
Having recently shifted her area of focus in clinical medicine to improving dermatological clinical outcomes in skin of color, Parker is now a dermatology resident at Temple University’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine. She expects to complete the program in 2023.
A past Commonwealth Fund Fellow in Health Policy and Leadership at Harvard Medical School, Parker’s goal is to become a leader in transforming health care delivery systems for all populations—especially those who are disadvantaged and vulnerable. She is committed to serving the needs of racial and ethnic minorities, elderly patients, immigrants, and other vulnerable populations who often have less understanding of their diagnosis.
She has partnered with a health care technology start-up to improve patient treatment access, delivery, and outcomes. Actively engaged in efforts to increase diversity in medicine, her advocacy efforts involve ensuring health care technology innovations reach underrepresented and vulnerable populations. Her goal is to coordinate integrated care and improve health care through policy implementation.