Barbara Damron is an Associate Professor at the College of Nursing, having joined the faculty in 2009. She also is Director of Oncology Nursing Research and Director of Government and Community Advocacy at the UNM Cancer Research & Treatment Center. Additionally, she is President of Damron Oncology Consulting, based in Santa Fe. She earned her BSN from Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, and her MSN from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She completed her PhD in Social/Development/Personality Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. Her dissertation focused on effective communication between health care providers and cancer patients. Her current research is focused on ecological barriers to cancer screening. She has had 30+ years experience as an oncology nurse, working in a variety of settings including hospitals and health care centers, legislative programs, and academic settings. She started the first bone marrow transplant unit in southern Texas and developed and implemented the first state-wide oncology nursing education program in the country. She also taught chemotherapy administration for over 15 years throughout the country. She has worked as an oncology clinical nurse specialist, oncology nurse educator, and in numerous administrative roles. Currently, she is also actively involved in the Oncology Nursing Society and the ONS Foundation (past president), the New Mexico Cancer Council (as a founding steering committee member, as she was with the Texas Cancer Council), and serves on numerous local, state, and national boards.