Cierra Johnson is an anchor and reporter with NBC4.
Central Ohio is home for Cierra. She attended Gahanna Lincoln High School, where she was an active member of WGLH, the school’s nationally recognized student television program. After graduating from Gahanna, Cierra attended Ohio University where she studied broadcast journalism in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism.
She joined NBC4 after working at KNTV in San Francisco. While there, she was a morning reporter and anchor for various newscasts. Cierra previously worked at WBNS as the station’s first ever multimedia journalist. As the first in the role, Cierra shot and edited video as well as reporting stories on a daily basis. She has also worked as a reporter and anchor at WKBW in Buffalo, New York, and as a participant in the Scripps Apprentice Program at WCPO in Cincinnati.
Cierra has covered natural disasters including Hurricane Dorian in Jacksonville, Florida, record setting snowstorms in western New York, and wildfires throughout the Bay Area of California. She was also part of the NBC team covering the Golden State Warriors as they clinched the 2022 NBA Championship.
Cierra also enjoys giving back to the community and is an active member of several local and national organizations. Cierra is a member of Junior League, a volunteer with Dress for Success, National Association of Black Journalists, Kitchen Kapers and a member of the committee that plans Wonderball, a fundraiser for the Columbus Museum of Art.
Cierra is an Emmy-nominated journalist, a 2020 participant in the Association of Health Care Journalists Cancer Reporting Fellowship and was recognized by Medaille College for excellence in journalism and community reporting.
When she’s not working or volunteering, Cierra loves trying new restaurants, traveling and spending time with her friends and family.
McCleary is a 21-year cancer thriver of Basal Cell Skin Cancer and Gorlin Syndrome and a dedicated volunteer with the American Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.
Leah was diagnosed at just nine years old, a moment that shattered all hope as her doctor feared she wouldn’t live beyond nineteen. From that day forward, she faced a relentless battle few could imagine. McCleary has endured an overwhelming number of treatments — hundreds of surgeries scattered across her body, including a staggering 123 surgeries from the neck up alone. She bravely fought through two grueling rounds of chemotherapy, countless photodynamic therapy sessions, thousands of biopsies, dozens of painful scrape-and-burn procedures, and more. Leah’s journey is a testament to unimaginable strength and resilience, bearing the heavy weight of a cancer diagnosis every single day since May of 2004.
Leah’s involvement with ACS and ACS CAN stems from a deep desire to make purpose out of her pain and give back to her community. As the lead advocate for the 2nd congressional district in Ohio, she advocates for improvements in the future of cancer care, working to build a future where better outcomes are possible for everyone. One of the most meaningful parts of her journey has been watching her 8-year-old son, Joey, join her in advocacy—standing beside her to raise his own voice for others in the fight against cancer, united by a shared hope to end cancer as we know it, for everyone.
She advocates for any issue that affects cancer patients but by far, her most passionate issue is expressing the need for sustained financial support of cancer research, because it’s the very reason she is alive today.
Marion N. Rowley Professor of Cancer Research, The Ohio State University (OSU) | Director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, College of Medicine, OSU | Professor in the Division of Epidemiology in the College of Public Health | Deputy Director for Population Sciences and Community Outreach, the OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC)| Founding Director, Center for Community Outreach and Engagement, James Cancer Hospital, Columbus, Ohio | Director, Center for Cancer Prevention and Survivorship, OSUCCC
Dr. Sohal is a board-certified medical oncologist, focusing on the treatment of patients with gastrointestinal cancers, with a special interest in clinical trials of cutting-edge drugs and novel approaches to cancer therapy. He joined the University of Cincinnati in October 2019, where he is a Professor of Medicine. He serves as the Associate Director for Clinical Research at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center, and is the Director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology. In these roles, his focus is on expanding the clinical trials portfolio in GI cancers, early-phase studies, and precision oncology.
Dr. Sohal earned his medical degree from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India. He completed residency training and a year as a Chief Resident in Internal Medicine at the Jacobi Medical Center of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, NY. He then completed a fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Sohal has also completed graduate training in epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Dr. Sohal is the principal investigator of several clinical trials for patients, both in GI cancers and genomics, including national cooperative group, investigator-initiated, and industry-sponsored studies. He is funded by several grants, from Federal, foundation, and pharmaceutical sponsors. His key accolades include an American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Young Investigator Award, being Chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Medical Oncology Self-Assessment Committee, the Co-Chair of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Clinical Practice Guidelines Panel for Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer, Co-Chair of the SWOG Pancreas Subcommittee, an Investigator of the Pancreas Task Force of the Gastrointestinal Steering Committee of the National Cancer Institute, and serving on the Editorial Board of JCO Precision Oncology.
Rowan Barker-Clarke, PhD, is an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cleveland Clinic, where he leads research into digital biomarkers of patient response to treatment. His fellowship work focuses on glioblastoma, developing novel approaches to detect brain cancer symptoms and signs of treatment-related complications. He is also launching a clinical trial in musculoskeletal cancers and preparing to extend this work into Phase 1 drug trials.
Dr. Barker-Clarke earned a BA and Master’s degree in Physics from the University of Oxford before completing a PhD in Cancer Research at the University of Cambridge. Bringing together expertise in physics, oncology, and computational science, his work focuses on developing and validating non-invasive, data-driven measures to better understand how patients respond to therapies, with the goal of improving outcomes and tailoring treatments to individual needs. His broader research interests include leveraging digital health access and informatics to improve outcomes across cancer types, particularly for historically underserved populations.
In addition to his research, Dr. Barker-Clarke works closely with the LGBT Center of Greater Cleveland and Cuyahoga County’s End the HIV Epidemic initiative to improve access to HIV prevention resources. This community engagement reflects his commitment to addressing health disparities and expanding access to high-quality, inclusive care.
At the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Barker-Clarke is inspired by the collaborative, forward-thinking research environment and the shared mission to improve cancer diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment. He considers it a privilege to contribute to the next generation of precision oncology tools that can make a tangible difference in patients’ lives, while also advancing equitable health outcomes across diverse communities.