When Aarya Satardekar learned she won the highest honor at a major health care conference, she was taken aback.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect it,’’ said the 23-year-old Class of 2026 graduate. She graduated in May with an from the (COPH).
“I was already excited that my work was selected and that I had the opportunity to present, but winning first place − especially as a master’s student − was humbling. It made me step back and realize the bigger impact this work can have beyond just research.’’
Satardekar presented one of 48 abstracts at the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) Catchment Area Data Excellence (CADEx) conference in Atlanta. Her topic, “Racial Disparities in Cancer Service Gaps in Florida: Comparing Diagnostic and Treatment Access in Counties Within and Outside NCI (National Cancer Institute) Cancer Center Service Areas,’’ addressed the differences in cancer mortality based on distance to cancer screening and treatment locations.
Access to care isn’t equal and that can lead to worse outcomes simply based on where someone lives.
Aarya Satardekar
The three-day event brought together students, health care professionals and oncology experts to share best practices, explore policies and methodologies, and discuss strategies to improve cancer care access and catchment area outreach. The selection committee chose Satardekar’s presentation for its “ability to demonstrate actionable, data-driven solutions to address inequities in cancer care access.’’
“It’s an important topic because it highlights a gap that many people don’t think about until they’re directly affected by it,’’ she said. “Access to care isn’t equal and that can lead to worse outcomes simply based on where someone lives. Even though the United States spends heavily on health care, disparities like this still exist − and they have very real consequences.’’
Collaborators on the research include , associate professor, at USF; Namit Choudhari, PhD student, USF School of Geosciences; and Dr. Nathanael Stanley, applied research scientist at Moffitt Cancer Center and a COPH alumnus. This team effort began through the GeoAI student organization at COPH, which Jacob started in 2023.
Satardekar’s research measured access to diagnostic services and county-level cancer mortality in Florida counties that are covered by NCI-designated cancer centers versus those that are not. It also measured the county-level burden of cancer by race/ethnicity in counties with and without NCI coverage. The work referenced 3,228 diagnostic radiology centers and 444 cancer treatment centers across Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia.
A summary of findings include:
- Overall, non-NCI counties had a 5.3% higher cancer mortality rate than those with oncology centers.
- More than one-quarter of Florida’s rural counties remain outside the service areas of an NCI-designated center.
- African American populations showed the largest NCI-coverage effect and the strongest mortality–distance association, with 10% higher mortality outside NCI coverage.
- White populations had 3% higher mortality outside NCI coverage and a moderate mortality–distance association.
- Hispanic/Latino populations showed positive distance effects but 5.7% lower mortality outside NCI coverage.
- When geographic gaps in cancer care exist, it is critical to examine whether specific demographic groups disproportionately bear the burden of cancer.
In addition, people in counties that are not part of an NCI-designated cancer center often have to travel far to seek basic screenings and “this can delay diagnosis, increase costs and make navigating insurance more complicated, all of which can affect outcomes,’’ Satardekar said.
To ease this problem, state health departments should expand access in underserved areas to increase diagnostic capacity, support mobile screening programs and strengthen outreach in regions outside existing cancer center coverage: “Even small improvements in access can make a big difference in early detection,’’ she said.
Stanley, who worked closely with Satardekar, said her research highlights inequities in Florida's cancer ecosystem – a topic that demands more attention. Health disparities are an artifact of the health system that created them, he said, that needs to be improved for those disparities to end.
“What Aarya was able to do was effectively show the relationship between high cancer mortality and distance-based access to cancer prevention (cancer screening),’’ he said. “She was also able to show that NCI-designated cancer programs have an influence in improving cancer outcomes in their catchment areas. Her research is part of a larger conversation on how to improve Florida's cancer ecosystem.’’