Posted on October 21, 2026 by Nick Ward
UT San Antonio alumna Megan Keim leverages her anthropology degree to manage clinical trials as a Senior Protocol Project Manager for the Southwest Oncology Group. By applying her background in medical anthropology, she helps humanize the scientific process to help provide the best in care for cancer patients.
Megan Keim
A career in cancer research does not universally begin with a traditional medical track. For alumna Megan Keim, who serves as a Senior Protocol Project Manager for the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG), a degree in Anthropology was her ticket to success. Keim graduated from The University of Texas at San Antonio in 2017 with a BA in Anthropology alongside a minor in Biology. Her daily schedule involves navigating the demands of federal organizations and pharmaceutical companies, where she utilizes her medical anthropology background to center patient care inside technical clinical trials.
Keim began her journey at the university in 2013. Originally on a multidisciplinary degree path as she tried to find classes that worked well together and sparked her interests, Keim was unsure of what specific direction to take her future career. A sophomore year class with Professor Deborah Moon Wagner changed her trajectory as she found herself entirely captivated by the field.
“It was something that I could really dive into and not get bored,” said Keim. “It was like a mixing of both of those worlds of science and the cultural learning. Medical anthropology made complete sense for me.”
Keim dove right into the field, and she immediately engaged with all that COLFA had to offer. She served as president of the Anthropological Society for a year. She even met her husband, David, through the organization. Under the mentorship of Professor Jill Fleuriet, Keim spent three semesters conducting research for her undergraduate thesis. She focused her work on mental health outcomes and patient access. She interviewed clinic patients directly to understand their experiences and identify potential avenues for resource allocation. Alongside her research, she completed an internship with the San Antonio Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse where she helped run a summer camp teaching military children about safe practices.
All of these experiences built a foundation for her current role within SWOG. The organization operates under The Hope Foundation and receives federal funding from the National Cancer Institute. Keim specifically works with genitourinary cancers, managing trials regarding bladder, prostate, and kidney diseases, facilitating the steps needed to bring potential treatments to activation. Her primary responsibility involves writing and organizing cancer research protocols alongside teams consisting of statisticians, data coordinators, fiscal/legal representatives and doctors implementing treatments.
When asked how anthropology translates to clinical research, Keim points directly to the coursework she completed at the university. “Learning critical thinking throughout my time at college has supremely helped me,” said Keim. “Through the lens of anthropology, understanding how science interacts with humans continues to help me with developing clinical trials and aids in my perspective when doing it. For example, I apply that thinking when working with our patient advocates. Understanding how patient feedback and their lived experience play a role when you’re developing a trial is incredibly insightful. My job is to package all of that together for the benefit of patients that will enroll in these trials.”
The position requires adaptability. Developing a treatment trial takes nine to twelve months of planning. During this time, Keim must collaborate with pharmaceutical companies, subject matter experts, and the federal government to ensure that all parties are on the same page while compiling data and developing a workable clinical trial protocol and informed consent document.
“It is difficult crossing that barrier sometimes from the hard science community into a patient-focused world and bridging that gap,” said Keim. “Learning how to communicate between those two worlds is a huge part of my job.”
The outcomes make the effort worthwhile. For Keim, the most rewarding aspect of her career is reaching the point of activation in a trial.
“Getting to that point and putting it out into the world, knowing that you have created a strong protocol with all the input that you can possibly have, it is super rewarding to see it go out to sites and for sites to activate the trial and put patients on,” Keim shared. “Knowing that you had a part in providing care that could really help people is wonderful. I love that about my job.”
Recently, Keim began training for a new role as a clinical trials program manager. In this position, she will oversee multiple protocol project managers across different disease sites. She will facilitate discussions with the National Cancer Institute and drug companies to shepherd new projects forward. She is optimistic that she can further extend her reach and play an even stronger role in helping provide quality care for cancer patients.
Today, Keim looks back on her undergraduate experience with fondness. She maintains contact with her former instructors and regularly visits with former professors. For current social science students aspiring to enter the medical field, she offers straightforward guidance.
“Get an internship,” advised Keim. “Look into getting involved with your community, whether it is volunteering at a hospital or clinic or attending community events that involve whatever medical specialty you are interested in. Finding a professor that you connect with that can guide you in the right direction is incredibly helpful, and with their support you can put yourself in the best possible position to start your career right out of college.”
— Nick Ward
