Future Cancer Researchers Present Findings at CDU
During the months of August and September, CDU hosted the CDU/UCLA Cancer Center Partnership to Eliminate Cancer Health Disparities’ Undergraduate Cancer Research and Training Program (UCRTP) poster sessions.
The events featured presentations from ten undergraduates who spent their summer in the immersive 12-week program designed for outstanding undergraduate students interested in pursuing careers in biomedical sciences.
“We bring the students in with the intent to ensure they acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to become proficient in cancer health disparities research,” said Dr. Jay Vadgama, Chief of the Division of Cancer Research and Training at CDU. “Making these programs available allows for the development of successful and competent cancer researchers who will impact our ability to reduce and eliminate cancer health disparities among racial and ethnic minority and socio-economically disadvantaged populations.”
An individualized program was developed for each participant, and they were paired to work with a faculty investigator and associates at CDU or UCLA laboratories.
Each student worked on a hypothesis-driven research project in cancer health disparities and developed a research paper based on their findings.
Project titles included “Sensitization to Docetaxel by Arctigenin in Advanced Prostate Cancer Cells,” “Vitamin D and Breast Cancer: The Social Determinants of Vitamin D Deficiency in Los Angeles County and the Effect of VDR Gene Polymorphism (Fokl) on Vitamin D3 Supplementation in Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells,” and “Intake of Exosomal MicroRNAs Promotes TNBC Cell Growth by Silencing BRCA1,” to name a few.
Since its establishment in 2003, the CDU/UCLA Cancer Center Partnership to Eliminate Cancer Health Disparities has provided educational experiences and a mentored research environment that fosters cancer research and offers substantive training to students, faculty, and postdoctoral fellows through collaborative research projects.