Racial Disparities Panel

Robert serves on the ZERO Board of Directors, and is the emcee of ZERO’s annual Advocacy Summit, where he engages attendees to share their stories year after year.

Chas Rodgers was diagnosed with Stage IV prostate cancer in April 2013 on his 45th birthday. That same year, he had a radical prostatectomy. In 2015 he underwent radiation therapy and in 2017, he underwent implant surgery to combat side effects as a result of his prostate cancer.

He’s the father of three young children, and is vocal about the need for increased prostate cancer awareness, particularly in the African American community. In San Diego, he serves as a ZERO advocate and leads the Kids Dash at the ZERO Prostate Cancer Run/Walk. Despite debilitating side effects from his treatment, Chas maintains a positive attitude, stays strong, and above all, has faith. No matter what, he never loses faith.

Chas empowers men to be their own advocate in the treatment and management of their disease, encouraging them to absorb as much information as they can, do their own research, and get a second and third opinion before making a decision. Chas credits the strength of his family during his battle. His wife and kids have worked alongside him during every step of this life-changing diagnosis.

Through sharing his story, Chas shares something very important with other men and families: they are not alone. Even through the awful moments, he fights, keeps faith, and remains a passionate advocate for the importance of awareness, early detection, and education.

Dr. Kelvin A. Moses is an Associate Professor of Urologic Surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and director of the Comprehensive Prostate Cancer Clinic.

As medical director of Surgical Outcomes and Quality, Dr. Stanley Frencher is charged with the strategy, delivery, and growth of surgical specialties for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital, specifically the quality of the program, clinical outcomes, new services, referral development, and daily medical practice operations of the surgical services.

Dr. Frencher directed prostate health research through a partnership with the Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program (BBHOP), a national initiative aimed at improving the health of African American men through barbershops and a network of community resources reaching more than 10,000 African American men in nearly 25 cities from 2008-2011. Working with BBHOP’s expanded network of collaborators and supporters, Dr. Frencher’s published research work has helped increase and diversify the organization’s funding by more than $2 million.

Dr. Stanley Frencher graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor's degree in biology/sociology. He earned his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. During medical school, he obtained a master's degree in public health at Columbia University as a Macy's Scholar. Immediately prior to starting residency, Dr. Frencher briefly interned on Capitol Hill for Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) working on health-related policy. He then became the first Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar sponsored by the American College of Surgeons. During that time, he conducted surgical quality-of-care research at UCLA-RAND Center for Law and Public Policy, interrupting his urology residency training at Yale.

After completing his residency, Dr. Frencher was recruited to the UCLA Department of Urology as an assistant professor-in-residence, medical director of surgical outcomes and quality at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital, and the lead physician of urology at Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Outpatient Center.

Dr. Frencher has recently been named Top Doctor by Los Angeles County’s MLK Outpatient Center and one of the Top 40 Under 40 Healthcare Professionals by the National Medical Association. His focus continues to be improvement of surgical quality, access to specialty care for vulnerable populations, and minority men’s health.

Landi is Writer and Director of the documentary, "The Silent Killer: Prostate Cancer In The African American Community," member of ZERO's Health Equity Task Force, and has been a ZERO Champion and advocate for many years.