2/2 CCNY-MSKCC Partnership for Cancer Research, Education and Community Outreach

The CCNY-MSKCC Partnership has successfully created a mutually beneficial, cross-institutional collaboration that has emphasized research across the translational continuum, the creation of an education pipeline for attracting minority and low-income students to careers in cancer research, and the establishment of community networks and resources for conducting linguistically and culturally-responsive community engaged research among diverse, at-risk populations. Over the last five years, areas of particular strength have been developed, including: 1) rich collaborations between engineers and computer scientists at CCNY and clinicians and imaging experts at MSKCC to develop innovative solutions to improve cancer care, and 2) sustainable, translational health disparities research and activities that directly benefit underserved communities in New York, and serve as national models in terms of: a) screening / identification of cancer risk factors that disproportionately affect minorities; b) socioeconomic determinants of access to, and successful completion of, treatment; and c) policy change. Consistent with these areas of emphases, we propose two full projects that focus on: 1) Tumor ensemble models to predict tumor dormancy and reactivation and testing how these models perform across various ethnic cell lines, e.g., triple negative tumors that disproportionately affect African American women and 2) Characterizing the Role of ATM in Immunoglobulin Gene Diversification and Genome Stability. Two proposed pilot projects include: 1) Raman spectroscopy with heavy water labeling and multiphoton microscopy to allow early detection of breast cancer subtypes, including triple negative cancers and 2) Development of Mechanical Interventions to Enhance Drug Delivery to Bone Tumors. New innovative Partnership components include: 1) development of the Linguistic and Cultural Responsiveness Shared Resource Core; 2) formation of the Engineering Health Disparities working group; and 3) new educational programs including the Scholars for the Future program and the Certificate for Medical Translation and Interpretation. The Partnership specific aims are to: 1) Continue to develop outstanding cancer research programs in health disparities, biomedical engineering, computer science / medical imaging, cancer cell biology, and immunology along the Translational Research Continuum; 2) collaborate with diverse communities to conduct and facilitate trailblazing cancer disparities research, and outreach, education, risk reduction, and navigation activities to define and address cancer disparities, with the goal of improving cancer care in the large, medically underserved local and national communities; 3) continue to develop and expand educational opportunities in a robust translational cancer research environment to attract and retain students interested in cancer research (particularly minority and low income students); these opportunities will be enhanced by educational opportunities and increased mentorship and support; and 4) expand and integrate the personnel, resources, and environment needed for scientific collaboration across institutions and influence institutional policies in support of this objective.