Advancing Prostate Cancer Research by Providing Summer Research Opportunities for HBCU Students at the Cancer Center at UTHSCSA
Abstract
According to the American Cancer Society, black men living in America have a 1.4-fold higher risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer and are at a two- to three-fold higher risk of death from this disease than white men. In this era of precision medicine, there has been significant progress towards gaining a better understanding of the molecular basis of prostate cancer and optimizing treatment. However, little progress has been made in gaining an understanding of why black men have a high incidence of this disease or if there is a molecular basis for this health disparity. This may be due, in part, to a limited emphasis in the scientific community on conducting research in minority groups. For the most part, cancer clinical trials have low numbers of minority enrollments. For example, in three large prostate clinical trials, PLCO, PCPT, and SELECT, the enrollment of minorities were 2%, 3%, and 6%, respectively for Hispanic men, and 4%, 4%, and 12%, respectively for black men. According to the US Census data from 2013, our U.S. population is currently 16% Hispanic and 13% black. Both of these minority groups are expanding at a more rapid rate than non-Hispanic whites, and it is expected that by 2050, non-Hispanic whites will be the minority population (Pew Foundation). Thus, there is a need to develop future scientists who are committed to addressing this health disparity issue in prostate cancer. To achieve this goal, we are proposing to develop a summer undergraduate prostate cancer research program with a Historically Black University located in Austin, Texas, Huston-Tillotson University (HTU). We are proposing to establish a partnership with HTU that will provide four summer students a 10-week training program/research internship in prostate cancer research at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA). The program consists of 2 weeks of didactic and laboratory training course followed by 8 weeks of research with a faculty member who has extramurally funded research on prostate cancer. The students will be part of a larger cadre of summer undergraduate cancer research students and will participate in the current undergraduate enrichment program, as well as the end of the year poster competition. Once they have completed their training, they will continue to obtain mentoring support from UTHSCSA as we partner with HTU to help them apply for graduate level biomedical education. Through these efforts, we hope to equip these students to become future prostate cancer researchers.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 31, 2017
- Source ID
- W81XWH1610217
Entities
People
- Robin J Leach
Organizations
- United States Army
- University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio