Nursing Student’s Career Pivot Part of Sweeping Effort to Bring Cancer Care to Every Corner of Tennessee
Liane K. Williams had an interest in oncology when she decided to go to nursing school after 20 years of working as a paralegal. She chose the University of Tennessee Health Sciences College of Nursing because of its excellent reputation and was excited to learn the school was launching an oncology nursing internship.
Williams is the first student to take part in the Oncology Scholars Program, funded through a $144,469 grant from West Cancer Foundation. She called the internship “profoundly rewarding.”
The program is just one aspect of the college’s commitment to cancer care and research. This commitment reflects a statewide movement by UT Health Sciences to align scientific discovery, clinical innovation, and policy action to ensure all Tennesseans, regardless of where they live, have access to high-quality cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. In 2025, the university launched a Tennessee Statewide Cancer Collaborative to build a coordinated network of cancer researchers and clinicians across the state. Efforts by the College of Nursing aim at building the oncology nursing workforce, increasing knowledge across all nursing disciplines, and increasing access to cancer screening.
For Williams, exposure to cancer research has been life changing. She now hopes to pursue a career in cancer nursing and research. Although the Marion, Arkansas, native was interested in health care as a child, she didn’t commit to that career until after two decades in the legal field. She has worked at West Cancer Center & Research Institute and UT Health Sciences’ Clinical Research Center during her internship as an Oncology Scholar. She’s scheduled to graduate in August with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.
“This experience has reinforced my interest in oncology nursing and has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my nursing education. I feel that research is critical in improving the care we provide and the outcomes patients facing cancer experience,” said Williams, whose grandfather died from esophageal cancer.
The College of Nursing has also recently expanded access to cancer screening through a mobile outreach program that targets underserved communities in Shelby County and in rural Haywood, Hardeman, and Lauderdale counties. Funded through a $168,475 sub-award from the Tennessee Center for Nursing Advancement, the rural van provides health education, cancer screening evaluations, and home colorectal or prostate-specific antigen test kits. A second van goes into underserved areas of Shelby County to offer cancer screenings, thanks to a $108,215 grant from the McKesson Foundation.
Associate Professor Ricketta Clark, DNP, is the principal investigator on the Shelby County project, the grant funded by the McKesson Foundation. “My goal for this project is to reduce barriers to cancer screening for underserved populations in Memphis by delivering care directly into high-disparity communities,” she said.
Dean Wendy Likes, PhD, DNSc, said it’s important to increase access to cancer screening and to expand the nursing workforce in oncology to improve patient outcomes. The Oncology Scholars Program offers two pathways: one focuses on clinical training and the other on oncology research. The West Foundation grant also funds a Distinguished Visiting Professorship that brings in an expert speaker in oncology annually for the local nursing community. The professorship is named for Bernie Crook, the nurse who helped to start the original West Clinic and continues to work for the West Cancer Center and Research Institute.
“We are excited to offer this opportunity to our students and very pleased to collaborate with a community partner like West Cancer Foundation in order to meet the needs of our health care partners in the Mid-South,” Dr. Likes said.
For Williams, the Oncology Scholars internship was both inspiring and educational. “This experience has taught me so much about oncology, the treatments available, and the cutting-edge research happening behind the scenes that is shaping the future of oncology treatment,” she said. “It has been inspirational how extremely passionate everyone has been about their patients and the research in which they are involved.”