By Hazel Scott
Dr. Manoj K. Mishra is once again helping establish Alabama State University as a leader in cancer research.
Mishra, founder and director of the Cancer Biology Research and Training (CBRT) program, has been awarded a four-year, $2,631,400 grant from the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) Diversity in Cancer Research Institutional Development (DCRID) to continue the University’s cutting-edge cancer research program and outreach.
The DCRID grant is designed to help improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in cancer research. Mishra is the Principal Investigator of this DCRID grant program at ASU.
“The development of diverse, highly competitive, and independent research has been a long-standing goal at ASU, Mishra said. “We are grateful to the American Cancer Society for their newly funded support in this mission. This is ACS’s first grant to Alabama State University.”
Mishra pointed out that the generous grant from ACS will help to transform the existing CBRT into a Cancer Center at ASU, as well as directly support a range of other programs.
This grant will provide pilot projects and clinical scientist’s development grants to junior faculty interested in cancer research at ASU. This will also support six Master of Science students (stipend and tuition fees) and two postdoctoral fellows to conduct cancer research. Under the grant, Mishra will have the opportunity to travel and discuss his research to different stakeholders including community leaders to enhance the cancer research capacity at ASU.
Although Mishra’s research areas include cancer immunology (prostate, breast, colorectal, ovarian Cancer), cancer health disparity and bone tissue engineering, he pointed out that under the grant “research is open to all types of cancers, including cancer research and community outreach.”
Mishra was drawn to his field of study by a desire to bridge the gap in health disparities, especially in the African-American community.
“I truly believe that health disparity is a big issue in the African-American population,” Mishra said. “My long-term career objectives and research goals are to reduce cancer health disparities and elucidate the molecular mechanism involved during prostate cancer progression and clearance. It is hugely important to increase workforce diversity in cancer research and throughout medicine. This grant will allow us to continue to address disparities as a nation.”
In a letter to Mishra, Lisa A. Lacasse, MBA, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, welcomed Mishra into the ACS’s family.
“Welcome to the American Cancer Society. This grant acknowledges your ability to make a vital contribution to cancer control. People worldwide place their hope in you and the Society to find answers to eliminating Cancer as a major health problem,” Lacasse said.
About the American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the leading cancer-fighting organization with a vision to end Cancer as we know it for everyone. For more than 100 years, the ACS has improved the lives of people with cancer and their families through advocacy, research and patient support to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer.
