Articles by Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement
Dr. Marc Hurlbert Joins MRA as Chief Science Officer
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 20 November 2018 In Science
Dr. Marc Hurlbert has built his career advancing medical research in support of patients. Now, as of this month, he will translate his skills, relationships, and enthusiasm to achieving our mission of ending death and suffering due to melanoma as MRA’s Chief Science Officer.
When Astrophysics & Melanoma Collide
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 16 November 2018 In Science
Using lessons, processes, and tools from the field of astrophysics, Dr. Taube is studying melanoma in all new ways.
Improving the Lives of Melanoma Survivors
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 15 October 2018 In Prevention, Science
Melanoma survivors are at a 9-fold increased risk of developing another melanoma. Unfortunately, 20% of survivors reported a sunburn in the past year and 10% intentionally went outside for a tan – both strong predictors of inappropriate sun exposure.
Older Patients Do Better on Immunotherapy
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 8 October 2018 In Science, Treatment
In Dr. Weeraratna's study, older patients did better on immunotherapy than younger patients. This surprising result is the opposite of what was expected.
Ipilimumab Cured Dan Engel He’s Committed to Paying it Forward
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 24 September 2018 In Melanoma Stories
Dan needed a miracle. At this point, he’d had six surgeries on his neck, endured radiation therapy, and been enrolled in five clinical trials. Dan’s miracle came in 2006 in the form of an experimental drug, ipilimumab or anti-CTLA4 antibody, that would later be named Yervoy. This drug would later become the first new FDA-approved melanoma treatment in 13 years.
Are you #SunSavvy365?
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 4 September 2018 In Allies & Partnerships, Prevention
It’s easy to think of sunscreen when you are lounging by a pool, but did you know that it’s important to protect yourself and those you love every day of the year? That’s why MRA partnered with the Melanoma Action Coalition to create #SunSavvy365, a social media campaign that reminds us to protect our skin whether we are making sand castles or snowmen.
Using Zebrafish to Shed New Light on Melanoma
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 29 August 2018 In Science
Dr. Liz Patton, a MRA-funded cancer researcher at the Medical Research Council Human Genetics Unit at the University of Edinburgh, is fascinated by learning how things work. Patton has focused her research on better understanding how melanocytes – the cells in our skin that provide us our coloring – develop, divide, migrate, and in some unfortunate circumstances, proliferate uncontrollably turning into melanoma. Her work is providing critical insight into the origin of melanoma and what spurs melanoma to spread throughout the body.
Choosing the Right Sunscreen - Your Questions Answered
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 2 August 2018 In Prevention
Bold claims and conflicting advice about what goes into a good sunscreen make it easy to feel overwhelmed when buying sunscreen. At MRA, we believe that the best sunscreen is one that you will wear. Provided that it meets three simple rules:
Wiser & Stronger – Life after Metastatic Melanoma
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 20 July 2018 In Melanoma Stories, Treatment
For Derrick, it all started with headaches. For the first time in his life, this otherwise perfectly healthy father of two, knew something was wrong.
Uveal ‘Clusters’ in Auburn, AL and Huntersville, NC
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 18 July 2018 In Allies & Partnerships, Melanoma Stories, News, Science, Treatment
When we talk about melanoma, it’s easy to forget that cutaneous – the most common variety that forms on the skin – isn’t the only game in town. Uveal represents about 5% of all melanomas diagnosed each year. So, when dozens of people from two towns in North Carolina and Alabama were diagnosed with the rare cancer alarm bells sounded.
About the Author
Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement
Cody Barnett, MPH serves as the Director of Communications & Patient Engagement at the Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA). In this role, he works to develop and cultivate strategies, messages, and stories that propel MRA and its mission forward. In addition, he develops patient-friendly articles, tools, and resources that demystify new research advances and make them actionable. Cody is responsible for media relations, web and social marketing, publications and materials development, and organizational branding. He is committed to using the power of storytelling and patient-centered thinking to advance melanoma research and improve patient outcomes.
Before joining the Melanoma Research Alliance, Cody served as Director of Communications at AIDS United, where he directed all internal, public, member, and online communications for the national HIV-focused organization. Previous to this, he managed digital communications for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s signature initiative, Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q).
Cody earned his Master of Public Health (MPH), concentrating in health policy, from The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health in 2013 and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from York College of Pennsylvania.