Shoshana Sherman Builds Trust and Access into Cancer Prevention

For Shoshana Sherman, cancer prevention is not only about making screening available. It is also about creating the trust, partnerships and practical points of access that allow people to participate in their care.

As a health promoter and equity advocate with the Central Regional Cancer Program at Southlake Health, Sherman works to make cancer prevention and screening more accessible for women and underserved communities. Her focus connects broad health-system priorities with community-based action, from supporting changes in cervical screening to helping deliver pop-up clinics alongside local partners.

That work is grounded in a clear principle: good health starts with trust and access. For Sherman, advancing health equity means considering who may be left out of conventional services and working with communities and care providers to reduce those gaps.

Bringing screening closer to communities

Much of Sherman’s current work centres on women’s health. She supported Ontario’s provincial rollout of HPV testing for cervical screening, contributing to a significant change in how cervical screening is delivered. Her involvement also extends beyond implementation at the health-system level.

Through cervical screening pop-up clinics, Sherman works with community partners to bring services into settings designed to be more accessible. These clinics reflect the importance of meeting people through trusted local relationships rather than assuming that every patient can navigate standard pathways to care with equal ease.

Sherman is also helping organize EmpowerHer, a Black breast and reproductive health awareness event. The initiative brings focused attention to breast and reproductive health while creating an opportunity for relevant education and community connection. Together, these efforts show how prevention can take multiple forms: a provincial screening change, a locally delivered clinic or an awareness event shaped around a community’s needs.

Partnership as a health equity practice

Sherman’s approach depends on collaboration across institutions and communities. She has built partnerships with First Nations, Inuit, Métis and urban Indigenous communities, as well as Ontario Health Teams, primary care providers and grassroots organizations.

The purpose is not simply to extend the reach of existing information. It is to support culturally safe care and education for people who are often excluded or underserved. This requires attention to relationships, local context and the barriers that can stand between a person and preventive care.

Her work illustrates the coordinating role that health promotion can play. Hospitals, primary care teams, community groups and regional partners may each hold part of the solution. Connecting them can help turn a health priority into something people can encounter and use within their own communities.

A multidisciplinary path through healthcare

Since 2022, Sherman has held several roles at Southlake, spanning oncology drug reimbursement, primary care and diversity coordination, and health promotion. That range has given her experience across different parts of healthcare delivery while keeping questions of access and inclusion in view.

Southlake recognized her as its inaugural Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Champion. She also contributes to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility committees in both healthcare and education, extending her engagement beyond the responsibilities of her primary role.

Her academic background similarly brings together health, leadership, equity and disability studies. Sherman is completing a Master’s in Health Studies, with a focus on leadership, at Athabasca University. She also holds an Advanced Diploma in Health Sciences from George Brown College and an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Equity and Disability Studies from the University of Toronto.

Connecting leadership with inclusion

Sherman’s work offers a practical view of health leadership: one in which coordination, education and relationship-building are essential to improving access. The projects she supports are distinct, but they share a common direction. Each seeks to make prevention and screening easier to understand, reach and trust.

As she continues her studies and her work in health promotion, Sherman is interested in connecting with women leaders who share a commitment to health and equity. She also values the importance of women lifting one another up—a natural extension of an approach built around partnership rather than progress in isolation.

Her member story is ultimately about the infrastructure behind inclusion. Trust must be cultivated. Access must be designed. Partnerships must be sustained. By bringing those elements into cancer prevention and women’s health initiatives, Sherman is helping create more responsive paths to care for communities too often left at the margins.