This application brings together Claflin University (CU) and the South Carolina Cancer Center (SCCC), in a collaborative project aimed at training minority undergraduate students in cancer research, and at establishing solid collaborative research programs among cancer researchers at the two institutions. CU, located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, is a Historically Black College or University with an outstanding record of high quality programs for educating minorities, and represents a rich source of talent with the cultural sensitivity and insight needed to promote cancer research. The SCCC, a research partnership between the University of South Carolina (USC) and Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital (PMH) in Columbia, South Carolina, includes basic and clinical cancer researchers with faculty appointments at the USC Schools of Medicine and Public Health, and the Colleges of Nursing, Pharmacy, and Science and Mathematics. SCCC members have active research programs in cervical, colon, breast, and prostate cancer. This application will focus on two targeted areas: 1. To develop a collaborative Cancer Research Training Program between CU and the SCCC, targeting minority undergraduate students from CU. Students will receive cancer research training in the form of specialized courses, 15-month continuous research internships in SCCC laboratories, and summer research internships in clinical research facilities at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and the Medical College of Wisconsin. The students will then continue their cancer research training in a specialized track of CU's Masters of Science in Biotechnology Program. We anticipate that students graduating from this program will be highly competitive for admission to Ph.D. programs at USC, or anywhere they choose to go. 2. To develop two collaborative research projects between CU and the SCCC that will have a high probability to be competitive for NIH funding. The PIs of these projects will be Drs. Omar Bagasra and Rebecca Bullard-Dillard of Claflin University, and Drs. Kim E. Creek and Lucia Pirisi-Creek, of the SCCC.
| Wan, Fang; Miao, Xijiang; Quraishi, Iram et al. (2008) Gene expression changes during HPV-mediated carcinogenesis: a comparison between an in vitro cell model and cervical cancer. Int J Cancer 123:32-40 |
| Bheda, A; Creek, K E; Pirisi, L (2008) Loss of p53 induces epidermal growth factor receptor promoter activity in normal human keratinocytes. Oncogene 27:4315-23 |
