CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – One beauty pageant queen is trying to bring awareness to the health system and the disparities that Black women face.
Miss Virginia Marquita Taylor says balancing her winning title with medical research can be tricky but what helps her is the reminder of what she has been through.
“This work is near and dear to me because I am a cancer survivor,” Associate Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the UVA Cancer Center Marquita Taylor said. “The cancer that I’ve survived is a cancer that will be the second leading cause of cancer deaths by the year 2030.”
Her motivation comes from her experience with pancreatic cancer.
Now, she wants to help other Black women.
“Women are still dying,” Taylor said. “Black women are still suffering greatly during childbirth. there are disparities across the board.”
The crown was a bonus, but Taylor’s lifelong dream was to work in healthcare.
She says she sees these disparities firsthand and there’s an unsettling pattern that needs to be broken.
Such as longer wait times and misdiagnosis.
“Often times they receive a cancer treatment much later on in that, things like the disparities are just much higher,” Taylor said.
Taylor has no plans of trading in her medical tools for good.
She says after working hard for her PhD she wants to show women they can help people and feel good while doing it.
“You can have choice in the ability to choose is important, so I choose to continue to excel. professionally, while enjoying other things,” Taylor said.
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