Medicine schools at Temple University and the City University of New York have received a $13.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to address and reduce the cancer health imbalance among minority communities.
The joint grant extended to Lewis Katz School of Medicine and City’s Hunter College will ensure better support to the underserved population of majorly African-American, Asian-Pacific-American and Hispanic-American communities.
“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 at Katz school of medicine.
“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.”
Around 70 investigators from both universities will be working on the project primarily focusing on diversifying the research by mentoring the minority junior faculty, students and researchers. They will also focus on educating and engaging the community.
“For too long, certain communities have faced barriers that prevent them from getting the best-available cancer prevention, detection and treatment care, and they suffer disproportionately as a result,” said Dr. Olorunseun Ogunwobi, Principal Investigator at Hunter College.
“This grant will enable us to identify research-based solutions to overcome those disparities, improving quality of life and health outcomes.”
The partner medical schools will also organize the community outreach programs providing community members with cancer screenings to detect, intervene and provide medical treatment.