Mikal Giancola, MPH, manager of the Comprehensive Cancer Program of the Louisiana Cancer Prevention and Control Programs at LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health, has been elected chair of the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors Cancer Council. He will serve a three-year term.
The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) is a nonprofit public health organization committed to serving chronic disease program directors of each state and United States jurisdiction. Since its founding, NACDD has been a national leader in mobilizing efforts to reduce chronic diseases and their associated risk factors through state and community-based prevention strategies. Its councils address the unique prevention and control efforts of specific chronic diseases while advancing the professional development of chronic disease staff with common program interests. NACDD's Cancer Council is composed of program directors and managers of CDC-funded Comprehensive Cancer Control Programs in each state, territory, and tribe.
Giancola, known as “Mack,” began working in public health in Louisiana in 2007, initially for the Office of Public Health. At LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health, he is also the statewide co-chair of the Louisiana Healthy Communities Coalitions. His interests include cancer survivorship and palliative care, the social determinants of health, implementation research, and leadership in public health. He graduated from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine with a Master's in Public Health from the Health Systems Management department in 2011. He is currently pursuing his doctor of public health degree.