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

> **NIH NIH U54** · SLOAN-KETTERING INST CAN RESEARCH · 2024 · $1,496,000

## Abstract

The CCNY-MSKCC Partnership has successfully created a mutually beneficial, cross-institutional collaboration
that has emphasized research across the translational T0-T4 continuum, the creation of an education pipeline
for attracting underrepresented students from diverse backgrounds to careers in cancer research, and the
establishment of community networks and resources for conducting linguistically and culturally responsive
community engaged outreach and research among diverse, at-risk populations. Over the next five years, the
Partnership focus will be Translational Cancer Research for Health Equity. Consistent with this emphasis,
our research projects will focus on: 1) understanding the biological and social determinants of health factors that
increase risk for adverse events associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors and evaluating a social drivers of
health intervention designed to reduce side effect severity and improve treatment adherence; 2) an examination
of small molecule regulation of cancer-driving transcription factors using an integrated strategy of structural,
chemical, and cellular approaches that could lead to targeted treatments relevant to cancers common in
underserved populations; 3) the impact of AI integrated, UN-style medical interpreting engineering solutions on
access to cancer care; 4) identification of germline and/or ancestry/race-specific environmental/social factors
influencing the tumor genome of lung cancers and the joint effect of African ancestry and smoking on somatic
mutations. The Specific Aims are to (1) continue to develop outstanding cancer research programs, through
the lens of health equity, on social determinants of health, biomedical engineering, computer science, medical
imaging, cancer cell biology, precision medicine, and immunology along the Translational Research Continuum;
(2) collaborate with diverse communities to conduct and facilitate trailblazing cancer disparities research,
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,
nurture and retain students and Early-Stage Investigators interested in cancer research, particularly
underrepresented students and low-income students; and (4) expand and integrate the personnel development,
resources, and environment needed for scientific collaboration across institutions, to increase capacity for
linguistically and culturally responsive research and clinical care, and to influence institutional policies to support
and sustain translational research in cancer disparities and health equity.
.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11012069
- **Project number:** 2U54CA137788-16
- **Recipient organization:** SLOAN-KETTERING INST CAN RESEARCH
- **Principal Investigator:** Tim Alan Ahles
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,496,000
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2008-09-26 → 2029-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11012069

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11012069, 2/2 CCNY-MSKCC Partnership for Cancer Research, Education and Community Outreach (2U54CA137788-16). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11012069. Licensed CC0.

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