UA Cancer Center, NAU Collaborate
Collaboration targets rising
cancer rates in Native
Americans
The Partnership for Native American Cancer Prevention has been awarded $13 million from the National Cancer Institute to continue bringing prevention and biomedical research training to Native American communities in Arizona. The partnership focuses on the Hopi Tribe, Tohono O’odham Nation and Navajo Nation of Arizona.
The effort, known as NACP, is a collaboration between the University of Arizona Cancer Center and Northern Arizona University. The UA Cancer Center will receive $6 million, and NAU will receive $7 million under the five-year-grant renewal.
“This research, training and community outreach grant, first funded in 2002, has forged a powerful bridge between the University of Arizona Cancer Center, Northern Arizona University and Native Americans in the Southwest to address the rising tide of cancer in Native Americans,” said David S. Alberts, M.D., the UA’s principal investigator for the grant.
“NACP is the first partnership funded by the NCI aimed at the huge burden that cancer places on Native Americans,” said Laura Huenneke, Ph.D., provost at Northern Arizona University and the lead investigator for the NAU portion of NACP.
The program’s funding comes from the NCI’s Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities, whose mission is to reduce the unequal burden of cancer in the American society and to train the next generation of competitive researchers in cancer and cancer health disparities research. NACP has been funded by the disparities center since 2002.
“The Partnership for Native American Cancer Prevention is a key program to address the health care disparities among native populations throughout Arizona. The UA Cancer Center is committed to reducing those disparities and improving the quality of life for all Arizonans,” said Andrew S. Kraft, M.D., director of the UA Cancer Center.
The Partnership’s efforts have resulted in tribal-approved research projects with the three Native American tribes. The partnership also includes continuing education for community healthcare professional and institutionalized graduate and undergraduate educational curricula at both universities.
