By Tuskegee University Newsroom,
Dr. Clayton Yates, professor of biology and director of the university’s multidisciplinary Center for Biomedical Research, secured the 2021 Movember- Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) Challenge Award to support cross-disciplinary pioneering research toward finding cures for prostate cancer. The award, which totals $2 million, is granted to teams at some of the world’s leading cancer research institutions.
Under the award, Yates will serve as the principal investigator in creating a digital health tool that will increase ethnic and racial diversity in prostate cancer clinical trials and develop a training program to increase the numbers of underrepresented minorities in the field of computational prostate cancer disparities research.
The project, “MET-PAAM: Elucidating the Molecular Mechanisms of Tumor Progression in Metastatic Prostate Cancer among Men of African Ancestry,” will map the landscape of genomic alterations in African American prostate cancers, which will enable the development of new precision medicine approaches.
“African American patients experience significant disparities in prostate cancer diagnosis and outcomes compared with Caucasian patients. This research will allow a better understanding of genomic alterations in African American men with metastatic hormone-sensitive (mHSPC) and castration-resistant PCa (mCRPC) at the single-cell level,” explained Yates. “Furthermore, this grant will support the expansion of our existing training program in the Center for Biomedical Research that focuses on providing opportunities for underrepresented minority (URM) students to become scientific leaders in computational genomics and PCa disparities.”
“Research from past Challenge Awards has led to many significant findings that improve outcomes for men with prostate cancer,” said Movember’s Global Director of Cancer Research and Clinical Trials, Jane Fisher, Ph.D.
In addition, Franklin Huang, MD, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco; San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Elisabeth Heath, MD, Karmanos Cancer Institute; Wayne State University will also serve as principal investigators.
“The PCF Challenge Award intends to support ambitious team science with the potential to develop new treatments for metastatic prostate cancer,” said PCF Executive Vice President and Chief Science Officer Howard R. Soule, Ph.D. “We congratulate Drs. Huang, Heath, Yates, and Freedman and their colleagues on their research which we believe has the potential to develop new therapeutic approaches for advanced prostate cancer and provide more options for patients in need.”
About the Prostate Cancer Foundation
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world’s leading philanthropic organization dedicated to funding life-saving prostate cancer research. Founded in 1993 by Mike Milken, PCF has close to one billion dollars in support of cutting-edge research by more than 2,200 research projects at 220 leading cancer centers in 22 countries worldwide. Thanks in part to PCF’s commitment to ending death and suffering from prostate cancer, the death rate is down by 52 percent, and countless more men are alive today as a result. The Prostate Cancer Foundation’s research now impacts more than 70 forms of human cancer by focusing on immunotherapy, the microbiome, and food as medicine. Learn more at www.pcf.org.
About Movember
Movember is the leading charity changing the face of men’s health on a global scale, focusing on mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer. The charity raises funds to deliver innovative, breakthrough research and support programs that enable men to live happier, healthier, and longer lives. Committed to disrupting the status quo, millions have joined the movement, helping fund over 1,250 projects around the world.
In addition to tackling key health issues faced by men, Movember is working to encourage men to stay healthy in all areas of their life, with a focus on men staying socially connected and becoming more open to discussing their health and significant moments in their lives. The charity’s vision is to have an everlasting impact on the face of men’s health. To donate or learn more, please visit Movember.com.
