Temple’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine and Hunter College of the City University of New York have been named the joint recipients of a $13.5 Million grant from the National Cancer Institute.
The five-year grant has been awarded to help create an entity to study cancer health disparities.
The grant will help underwrite the creation of the Temple University Fox Chase Cancer Center and the Hunter College Regional Comprehensive Cancer Health Disparities Partnership.
Both institutions will form a partnership to help focus on cancer care in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York City with a focus on reducing cancer health disparities in minority communities.
The partnership will feature more than 70 researchers in efforts.
According to the American Cancer Society, cancer has been the leading cause of death since 2000 for Asian-Pacific-Americans, who have the highest incidence rates of liver cancer among all racial and ethnic groups in the U.S.
According to a press release, the partnership will be mainly focusing on three core areas: multidisciplinary cancer research, with an emphasis on liver, colorectal and lung cancers; diversifying the research and medical pipeline by training and mentoring minority junior faculty, undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral researchers; and educating and engaging the community.
“It is a prestigious honor for Temple and Hunter to receive this competitive and unique grant to establish a cross-regional infrastructure to tackle the disproportionate cancer burden affecting underserved and diverse communities,” said Dr. Grace X. Ma, Principal Investigator of the Fox Chase Cancer Center. “This partnership will allow us to investigate social determinants of cancer disparities and advance cancer health equity through multidisciplinary research, education and mentorship, and community outreach and engagement.”
Dr. Larry R. Kaiser, who serves as the Dean of the Lewis Katz School of Medicine and the CEO of Temple University Health System, said he expects the collaborative effort will “yield results for years to come – in basic, clinical and behavioral research; in helping future leaders grow in those fields; and in continuing to build on established relationships with those in the community, as well as create new ones.”
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