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Upcoming Events


Health Equity Research Education Program

Grant Writing Retreat

February 21-23, 2024

Birmingham, Alabama


 

Annual Presidents’ Video Conference

March 18, 2024




Program Steering Committee Meeting

March 25-26, 2024

Opelika, Alabama




Internal Advisory Committee Meeting

July 24, 2024


Cancer Research Symposium

July 24-25, 2024

Birmingham, Alabama



Training Opportunities



2024 PRSTP Application

2024 PRSTP Flyer

Latest in news


 
MSM/TU/O'Neal CCC request for Pilot project application - 2024 

UAB, 2 other schools receive coll ective $18 million grant

Cancer doesn’t care about equality, so this program encourages diverse scholars to care more about cancer

Partnering Institutions

Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM)
Tuskegee University (TU)
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)


Principal Investigators

MSM: 
Brian Rivers, PhD  -Contact-PI
 
James Lillard, PhD

TU:
Timothy Turner, PhD -Contact-PI
Vivian Carter, PhD
Windy Dean-Colomb, MD

UAB:
Upender Manne, PhD -Contact-PI
Isabel Scarinci, PhD


Program Managers

 MSM: Jennifer Creighton
     TU: Chiquita Lee
  UAB: Suzanne Byan-Parker

 

Upcoming Events


Health Equity Research Education Program

Grant Writing Retreat

February 21-23, 2024

Birmingham, Alabama


 

Annual Presidents’ Video Conference

March 18, 2024




Program Steering Committee Meeting

March 25-26, 2024

Opelika, Alabama




Internal Advisory Committee Meeting

July 24, 2024


Cancer Research Symposium

July 24-25, 2024

Birmingham, Alabama



Training Opportunities



2024 PRSTP Application

2024 PRSTP Flyer

Latest in news


 
MSM/TU/O'Neal CCC request for Pilot project application - 2024 

UAB, 2 other schools receive coll ective $18 million grant

Cancer doesn’t care about equality, so this program encourages diverse scholars to care more about cancer

Partnering Institutions

Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM)
Tuskegee University (TU)
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)


Principal Investigators

MSM: 
Brian Rivers, PhD  -Contact-PI
 
James Lillard, PhD

TU:
Timothy Turner, PhD -Contact-PI
Vivian Carter, PhD
Windy Dean-Colomb, MD

UAB:
Upender Manne, PhD -Contact-PI
Isabel Scarinci, PhD


Program Managers

 MSM: Jennifer Creighton
     TU: Chiquita Lee
  UAB: Suzanne Byan-Parker

 

Steering Committee

Jeroan J. Allison
, MD, EPI 
(CHAIR)

EXPERTISE: Disparities in Health care Outcomes 

Sandra Million Underwood, RN, PhD
EXPERTISE: Nursing; Cancer Education & Research

Gerald Sonnenfeld
, PhD

EXPERTISE: Basic Science; Microbiology & Immunology
 
John Stone,
MD, PhD

EXPERTISE: Bioethics

Laritza M. Rodriguez
MD, PhD
National Cancer Institute

EXPERTISE: Reducing Cancer Health Disparities
 
 
H. Nelson Aguila
D.V.M.
National Cancer Institute

EXPERTISE: Reducing Cancer Health Disparities
 

Jorge A. Marrero
M.D, M.S
EXPERTISE: Advanced liver disease and transplant hepatology


Advisory Committee

Morehouse School of Medicine

Dr. John H. Stewart, IV, MD, MBA, FACS
EXPERTISE: Surgical oncology  
Sheila McClure, PhD


Tuskegee University

Vijaya K. Rangari, PhD
Chastity Bradford, PhD

University of Alabama at Birmingham
Selvarangan Ponnazhagan, PhD


 

Full Project: Molecular Characterization of Aggressive Colon Cancers of African-American Patients

MSM: Dr. Harvey Bumpers
TU
:
Dr. Temesgen Samuel
UAB:
Dr. Upender Manne

The primary goal of this preclinical translational proposal is to determine the prognostic and predictive value of a panel of promising molecular markers in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues (more than 1,000) collected from AA and non-Hispanic Caucasian (white) patients who underwent treatment at MSM and UAB hospitals. This investigation is also intended to develop the career of Dr. Temesgen Samuel, a junior faculty/Co-Leader at Tuskegee University (TU), who is seeking more experience in understanding the basis for cancer health disparities. Further, this project will continue the existing successful collaboration, established during the currently funded U54 Partnership award, between Dr. Harvey Bumpers of MSM and Dr. Upender Manne of UAB, to assist Dr. Bumpers to become an established investigator. The preliminary results of these collaborative studies show a disparity in gene expression profiles of microsatellite stable (MSS) phenotypes, known for aggressive behavior of colorectal cancers (CRCs) of AAs and whites. Based on these findings, the current hypothesis is that the MSS phenotypes of CCRs from AAs and whites are different, and their capacity to assess patient survival varies with tumor
stage and location.

Full Project: Kaiso as a Prognostic Factor and Potential Therapeutic Target in Breast Cancer

TU: Dr. Clayton Yates
UAB:
Dr. William Grizzle

This full project will study if the Kaiso gene is an essential inducer of the progression of breast cancer, through transcriptional regulation of hormone sensitivity and regulation of endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related genes. This collaboration between Dr. Yates and Dr. Grizzle was established to conduct a pilot project funded during the current U54 cycle. These collaborative efforts have identified that, in the process of breast cancer metastasis, there is a loss of hormone sensitivity and an EMT that increases cellular capacity for migration and invasion in relation to sub-cellular localization of Kaiso. By exploring the molecular mechanisms and effects on Kaiso-associated transcriptional repression, novel therapeutic approaches can be developed to target lethal metastasis.

Steering Committee

Jeroan J. Allison
, MD, EPI 
(CHAIR)

EXPERTISE: Disparities in Health care Outcomes 

Sandra Million Underwood, RN, PhD
EXPERTISE: Nursing; Cancer Education & Research

Gerald Sonnenfeld
, PhD

EXPERTISE: Basic Science; Microbiology & Immunology
 
John Stone,
MD, PhD

EXPERTISE: Bioethics

Laritza M. Rodriguez
MD, PhD
National Cancer Institute

EXPERTISE: Reducing Cancer Health Disparities
 
 
H. Nelson Aguila
D.V.M.
National Cancer Institute

EXPERTISE: Reducing Cancer Health Disparities
 

Jorge A. Marrero
M.D, M.S
EXPERTISE: Advanced liver disease and transplant hepatology


Advisory Committee

Morehouse School of Medicine

Dr. John H. Stewart, IV, MD, MBA, FACS
EXPERTISE: Surgical oncology  
Sheila McClure, PhD


Tuskegee University

Vijaya K. Rangari, PhD
Chastity Bradford, PhD

University of Alabama at Birmingham
Selvarangan Ponnazhagan, PhD