RVU Faculty and Student Publish Article on New Cervical Cancer Screening Model
RVU’s own, Dr. Jean Bouquet, Dr. Isain Zapata, and Emily Morris OMSII were recently published in Frontiers in Public Health: Health Economics regarding a new model to screen and treat cervical cancer at the point-of-care, especially in resource-constrained countries. Dr. Bouquet is the inventor of this new model, the Bouquet SpeculumTM, and plans to use his connections with the W.H.O. to seek to implement this less expensive model that could potentially save tens of thousands of women’s lives every year for $7.50/woman.
Dr. Bouquet took some time to answer our questions about this exciting project:
1. When did you start on this project, and where did the idea come from?
We started this project to screen and treat cervical cancer and precancers at the point of care through Dr. Jill Pitcher and RVU students who traveled to Peru in 2016 (photo below). We continued with Project C.U.R.E. in Paraguay and Panama in 2017 (photos below). The idea came from my invention for a new vaginal speculum that got patented, FDA-cleared and commercialized in 2015. I have a non-profit called Cure Cervical Cancer, Inc. that created a Cervical Cancer Cure Kit that has also been patented. We have used these kits in Peru, Panama, and Paraguay and published a paper on our results (https://www.longdom.org/open-access/a-new-vaginal-speculum-and-an-inexpensive-kit-to-screen-and-treat-dysplasia-and-cancer-of-the-cervix-44231.html) (Photo below).
2. How are Dr. Zapata and SD Emily Morris involved in this project?
Dr. Zapata and SD Emily Morris are co-authors on the recently published article in Frontiers in Public Health: Health Economics (https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1527172). (Photo below).
3. How did SD Emily Morris come to be involved with this project?
Emily was in our Urban Underserved Track, and I gave a presentation on the Bouquet Speculum and the Cervical Cancer Cure Kits. Afterwards, she came up to me and expressed her desire to go into women’s healthcare and asked if I had any projects that she could participate in. She presented a poster at Research Day in October 2024 (Photo below).
4. How did SD Emily Morris come to be involved with this project?
Emily was in our Urban Underserved Track, and I gave a presentation on the Bouquet Speculum and the Cervical Cancer Cure Kits. Afterwards, she came up to me and expressed her desire to go into women’s healthcare and asked if I had any projects that she could participate in. She presented a poster at Research Day in October 2024 (Photo below).
5. What are the next steps for this project?
In the coming months, we’re going to present our perspective article and the Cervical Cancer Cure Kits Model to the World Health Organization (WHO).
6. What do you hope to achieve with this project?
Increase the screening and treatment of cervical cancers and precancers throughout the world. In resource-constrained countries, only 9% of women are ever screened for this very preventable cancer. Globally, the rate of screening is only 36%.
7. What opportunities are available for students to become involved in research/projects like this one at RVU?
There are many ongoing research projects on all three campuses. Students and faculty alike are enthusiastic about working together to advance scientific knowledge.
To learn more about the various research opportunities RVU offers, check out our Office of Research and Scholarly Activity page.
8. What else is RVU doing in relation to women’s health?
I sit on the IRB, and there are multiple research projects involving women’s health, from our research in cervical cancer screening and treatment to osteopathic manipulative therapy for primary dysmenorrhea.
RVU also recently hosted the first-ever Women’s Health and Wellness Conference, an event dedicated to celebrating and educating women in areas such as wellness, self-care, and preventive health. To learn more, check out our blog by Student Doctor Marli Weisman.
Congratulations to Dr. Bouquet, Dr. Zapata, and Emily Morris OMSII for this accomplishment. To learn more, check out the article in Frontiers in Public Health: Health Economics.