The JC School of Public Health and Primary Care is excited to welcome Dr. Mellissa Withers, Professor of the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, to deliver a seminar entitled “Cervical Cancer Screening: Contextually Experience in the United States to Inform Governmental Policy” on 23 February 2026 (Monday).
Self-sampling for HPV, the primary cause of cervical cancer, has emerged as a promising strategy to increase screening uptake, particularly among women who face barriers to traditional clinical screening. Dr. Withers will discuss the potential impact, acceptability, and implementation considerations of cervical cancer self-sampling among women in the U.S. and beyond.
The talk will be moderated by Prof. Martin Wong, Professor at JC School of Public Health and Primary Care.
Please find the event details below:
| Date | 23 February 2026 (Monday) |
| Time | 1:00 PM – 2:30PM |
| Mode | In-person |
| Topic | Cervical Cancer Screening: Contextually Experience in the United States to Inform Governmental Policy |
| Speaker | Dr. Mellissa Withers Professor Department of Population and Public Health Sciences Keck School of Medicine of USC University of Southern California |
| Moderator | Prof. Martin Wong Professor JC School of Public Health and Primary Care The Chinese University of Hong Kong |
| Registration Deadline【EXTENDED】 | Noon, 13 February 2026 (Friday) |
About the Speaker
Dr. Mellissa Withers is a Professor in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences (DPPHS) and Director of Pedagogical Enrichment and Training in DPPHS. She also serves as the Programme Director of the Global Health Program of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU). Dr. Withers earned a PhD in Community Health Sciences from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health with a minor in cultural anthropology. She also holds a Master’s in Health Systems (International Health) from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a BA in international development from UC Berkeley. Her primary research interests lie in community participatory research, qualitative methodology, immigrant health, mental health, maternal health, women’s empowerment, gender-based violence, and global sexual and reproductive health. (Learn more about Dr. Withers)
About the Moderator
Prof. Martin Wong is a scholar and specialist in Family Medicine, and a researcher in the field of cancer screening and prevention of chronic diseases. He is currently a Professor and Director of the Centre for Health Education and Health Promotion, Faculty of Medicine, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is also the Associate Head and Dean of Students of the United College, CUHK. He has over 600 publications in international peer-reviewed journals, and has received over 15 international and local research awards for his studies. His expertise of “Colorectal Neoplasm”, “Mass Screening”, “Early Detection of Cancer” ranks in the top 0.055%, 0.095%, and 0.14% in the world, respectively. He ranks as the top number 1 researcher in China in the field of disease screening [from expertscape: https://www.expertscape.com/; on 10/9/2022]. He is a leader of an international research group which is a global organization jointly participated by various Universities in the world. He has been co-chairman of the APRU Global Programme [NCD] for many years. In 2024, he was selected as a “Highly Cited Researcher” by Clarivate, an award which recognizes awardees as the pioneer in his field over the last decade, demonstrating significant and broad influence in one’s field of research. (Learn more about Prof. Wong)