Bin McLaurin’s cancer diagnosis came as a surprise. He was 46 and working as a research assistant at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai. As part of his research, McLaurin visited barbershops to talk with men about hypertension and high blood pressure and to encourage them to get annual checkups and screenings.

“It was during that outreach that I decided to check on my own health,” he said. “I thought I was a healthy guy. I was eating right, I exercised — a diagnosis was the last thing on my mind.”

Shortly after that checkup, McLaurin learned he had an aggressive form of prostate cancer. He was shocked and confused, but after speaking with an oncologist, he quickly began treatment.

“The diagnosis and treatment set me on a new path,” McLaurin said. “I realized these things were not discussed in the circles I was running with. Nobody on the basketball team was sitting around talking about cancer or health screenings.”

After his treatment and recovery, McLaurin dedicated himself to raising awareness about men’s health. Through his advocacy, he has shared his story with men around the world in hopes of breaking the stigma surrounding conversations about health.

“I think a lot of times, if men don’t have a safe space to open up, it just becomes this veil of silence,” he said. “It takes a certain amount of trust to break down barriers and that macho mentality. When men start seeing and hearing other men talk about their feelings and health, it builds that safe space to start asking questions.”

McLaurin is now a certified community health worker and patient service access representative at TMCOne. He’s also completing his master’s degree in public health at the University of Arizona.

“You don’t know if you don’t go,” he said. “Go get your annual checkups. It may save your life like it did mine.”

This Men’s Health Month, talk to your doctor! The CDC encourages men to regularly discuss routine health screenings with their primary care providers, including: