The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) this month awarded a $5.8 million renewal grant to the Center for Cancer Research and Therapeutic Development (CCRTD) at Clark Atlanta University.   

The five-year grant enables continuation of research, training and community outreach activities in the African-American community conducted through the CCRTD's Center of Excellence for Prostate Cancer Research, Education and Community Services. Shafiq Khan, PhD., executive director of the CCRTD and Georgia Research Alliance eminent scholar, is also principal investigator of this award.   
 
"We are approaching critical, exciting junctures in our work and anticipate major breakthroughs in prostate cancer research in the very near future," Khan said. "As important, however, is our commitment to ensure that our work translates into a culture of awareness and prevention, particularly in the African-American community. With this award from NIH/NIMHD, we will now be able to continue our significant efforts along both tracks."

Clark Atlanta University President Carlton E. Brown said, "Our Center for Cancer Research and Therapeutic Development is one of the foremost cancer research centers anywhere in the United States. Our cutting-edge research on the treatment and eradication of prostate cancer continues to attract international attention. Not only does this award allow us to continue that work, it reaffirms that CCRTD is a world-class enterprise."

Grant funding will be appropriated to support three individual research projects, one from Khan, one from Jaideep Chaudhary, PhD., and one from Valerie Odero-Marah, PhD., all focusing on the cell and molecular biology of prostate cancer. It also will support six undergraduate summer interns and four graduate students in the area of prostate cancer research through academic and research scholarships, as well as the center's community-based cancer education and prevention program to build awareness on prevention, screening, early detection and treatment of prostate cancer in African-American men.

For more information on the Center for Cancer Research and Therapeutic Development at Clark Atlanta University, go to www.cctrd.cau.edu or call 404-880-6763.

-Story by the Strategic Communications Department of Clark Atlanta University