Mizzou students work to support company’s quest to modernize cervical cancer care
Journalism students Ayesha Khan (left) and Josie Menley create content for Mission-Driven Tech, a health care technology company founded by Eve McDavid, BJ ’08.
Public Relations Student Society of America members conduct research and create content for alumna’s medical technology company
Contact: Cary Littlejohn, carylittlejohn@missouri.edu
Photo courtesy of Emily Gerhart
Sydney Brown didn’t just want to gain experience working for actual clients; she wanted to do work that actually helped people in need. The University of Missouri’s Public Relations Student Society of America chapter provided the perfect opportunity to do that by providing real-world communications for an up-and-coming medical technology company.
Brown, a senior studying strategic communication in the Missouri School of Journalism, is one of 15 PRSSA students who are working with Mission-Driven Tech. Founded by Eve McDavid, BJ ’08, the company’s namesake mission is to develop tools and technology that help accelerate cervical cancer elimination.
To do that, Mission-Driven Tech is modernizing the equipment used in brachytherapy procedures — treatments that involve temporarily placing radioactive material inside the body to more precisely target tumors that grow in areas surrounded by important organs.
Because modernizing technology alone won’t achieve the systems-level changes that McDavid desires, she also prioritized a broad awareness-building campaign to deliver powerful narratives targeted to specific audiences based on detailed research.
That’s where Mizzou, PRSSA and Brown came in.
“It was so special to get to work closely with the founder and CEO,” Brown said. “She created this company. She’s a Mizzou alum, and she really wanted to work with students because she knows how valuable the journalism school is.”
The students began the work by conducting research that would serve as the guide for the company’s storytelling.
“The students worked on research efforts focused on analysis of existing cervical cancer content and conversation on a range of social media platforms and health organization websites. The goal was to figure out answers to a number of questions: Are there influencers in the cervical cancer space? What are people posting about cervical cancer? What kind of content are different medical organizations, such as the Mayo Clinic or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, putting out on this topic? Were they doing podcasts? Were they doing videos? Longform stories? Survivor stories?” Jon Stemmle, professor of strategic communication and faculty advisor for the PRSSA chapter, said.
Brown and fellow researchers answered those questions, carefully considering the various audiences they would need to reach.
“One was centered on health care providers and their awareness of Mission-Driven Tech’s product,” Brown said. “Another was focused on the patients and informing them how this technology could help them through their treatments. And finally, we looked at caregivers and the general public for how we might educate them about Mission-Driven Tech.”
After conducting the research, students presented reports to McDavid’s team in December, and this spring, they will work to create content strategies and social media content.
Brown felt a deeper connection to the work through learning more about cervical cancer, its treatment and the challenges faced by patients, providers, caregivers and loved ones.
“Feeling like you’re contributing your work to a bigger cause and you’re actually making a difference is really meaningful and rewarding,” Brown said. “And I think that that’s what definitely drew me not only to Mission-Driven Tech, but possible career options in the health sector.”McDavid hopes other students like Brown will find purpose in health care communication. That’s why she and her family recently established the McDavid Health Education Fund. Supported with a gift to the Missouri School of Journalism, the fund will support those interested in improving the lives of patients through investigative journalism, research, teaching and creative activities related to cervical cancer awareness and treatment modalities education.
Cervical cancer care done better
McDavid — who spent a decade at Google and rose to be a senior executive for YouTube — knows that Mizzou prepared her for her current role as CEO.
“Because of the flexibility and the adaptability that is stressed in the journalism school, I had a whole career that I did not anticipate for myself,” McDavid said.
McDavid’s pivot to running a health care technology company came from a deeply personal experience. In January 2020, shortly before her second baby was due, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer.
She reached remission in 2021 after aggressive treatment, including five brachytherapy procedures. The experiences inspired her to create a company that could improve the procedures and thereby improve patient outcomes.
“These procedures are like surgeries,” McDavid said. “They are anywhere from 6 to 10 hours in an operating room. They’re often performed without anesthesia, both in this country and globally. And because the current technology that’s used in care was designed in the 1970s, combined with the lack of pain management, patients have really devastating outcomes from these treatments. Because of the technology and because of the protocols, patients aren’t receiving the quality-of-life outcomes that are possible.”
Because her Mizzou education was invaluable for preparing her for her career, McDavid was excited to come back and provide that same kind of opportunity to students.
“The University of Missouri fits so perfectly into this, because it’s the top journalism program in the world and the students are trained to work on professional projects during their time at Mizzou,” McDavid said. “There could be incredible benefit and exchange between my company and students, in the same way that I benefited from working with actual clients when I was here. I understand how much stronger I was relative to my peers because I had spent my time on real-world problem solving and execution.”
This homecoming was made even sweeter when McDavid learned details of the life-saving work happening at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR), which she remembered from her time as a student but hadn’t thought about in many years.
“Mizzou is the only U.S. manufacturer of the radioisotope that’s used in brachytherapy here and all around the world — iridium-192,” she said. “That means my brachytherapy was most likely sourced from Mizzou.”
Updated: March 19, 2026