The biorepository, which is funded through a U54 Partnerships to Advance Cancer Health Equity award from the National Cancer Institute, is a joint effort between SCSU and MUSC Hollings Cancer Center that began in 2017 with the goal of developing research aimed at reducing cancer disparities in South Carolina. Marvella E. Ford, Ph.D., and Judith D. Salley, Ph.D., lead the NCI U54 program, which is titled “South Carolina Cancer Disparities Research Center (SC CADRE).”
Initially, researchers in the biorepository were studying breast and prostate cancer, but they now plan to expand their efforts to include colorectal cancer. Researchers with the biorepository aim to reach racially and ethnically diverse patients from medically underserved communities. The goal is to use the samples collected through the biorepository to advance the cancer research led by MUSC and SCSU and, ultimately, to develop new and improved cancer therapies to improve overall patient care.
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