UTSW screening leader earns state award for reaching underserved Texans

A Dallas medical center’s work to bring cancer screening beyond its hospital walls has earned statewide recognition.

Keith Argenbright, who leads UT Southwestern’s Moncrief Cancer Institute in Fort Worth, received the population-health category of the 2026 Texans Conquer Cancer Award on Oct. 5 in Galveston. UT Southwestern announced the honor Oct. 8.

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, known as CPRIT, recognized his efforts to expand screening access in rural and medically underserved communities. Its announcement says peers nominated the honorees and an advisory-committee panel selected them.

For North Texas, the award highlights a network connecting a Dallas academic medical center with communities that face barriers to care. UT Southwestern says the Moncrief and Simmons Cancer Center programs reach more than 100 counties across North, Central and East Texas and serve about 30,000 uninsured or underinsured people each year. The services include screening for breast, cervical, colorectal, lung and prostate cancers.

CPRIT reports that Argenbright and UT Southwestern have received 17 prevention grants worth $32 million since 2010. That is part of a broader screening effort: the agency credits him with overseeing more than $70 million in funding since he joined UTSW in 2008.

The recognition is for expanding access to established screening services, rather than announcing a new treatment or a new screening appointment program.

Sources

https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/newsroom/articles/year-2026/oct-cprit-Argenbright-texans-conquer-cancer-award.html

https://www.cprit.texas.gov/news-events/articles/cprit-innovations-vii-conference-convenes-in-galveston/