CCNY-MSKCC Partnership co-director Karen Hubbard [3rd from right] with undergraduate CCNY participants [from left] Kailey Singh, Jacqueline Weng, Fathema Uddin and Mariya Meyer.
Since 2002, The City College of New York- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Partnership can count an 83% success rate in trainees that go on to pursue higher academic tracks. This collaboration, whose mission is to develop future cancer researchers, is set to continue with a $14 million five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Specifically, the grant will fund a new research education program for City College students and ongoing cancer outreach in the Harlem community. Karen Hubbard, professor of biology in the Division of Science, and Gilda Barabino, Dean, Grove School of Engineering, head the CCNY-MSKCC Partnership at City College.
The new research projects, and their CCNY co-leaders, include:
- “How tumor ensemble models with two experimental models predict tumor dormancy & reactivation in cancers with gender and/or ethnic disparities,” with Fulbright winner for his cancer research David S. Rumschitzki;
- “Development of Mechanical Interventions to Enhance Drug Delivery to Bone Tumors,” with Herbert G. Kayser Professor of Biomedical Engineering Susannah P. Fritton;
- “Characterizing the role of ATM and MSH2 in genome stability,” with biologist Bao Q. Vuong; and;
- “Early Detection of Breast Cancer Subtypes by Raman Spectroscopy with Heavy Water Labeling and MultiPhoton Microscopy,” with Distinguished Professor of Science and Engineering Robert R. Alfano.
Cancer outreach to CCNY’s neighbors is through the Partnership Community Outreach, Research and Education Core (PCORE). It promotes access to cancer services, and encourages and supports health behaviors which enhance the quality of life for diverse underserved communities. Click here to read more.
CCNY is also a participant in the MSK’s “Radiology: Giving Back to New York City” high school essay writing competition. Its goal is to inspire and educate students and teachers about careers in oncology healthcare with a focus on cancer research, radiology, science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
“Through our ongoing collaboration the program has been able to offer five summer stipends at MSK,” said Leo Spychala, CCNY/MSKCC Partnership program manager at City College.
As for its primary mission, the Partnership has nurtured more than 500 trainees, with a majority of them from underserved minority populations. More than 80 % of whom have gone on to pursue higher academic tracks, and many are engaged in cancer-related research.
Between 2013 and 2019, approximately 88 CCNY undergraduates were trained; 53.9 % of them minorities. Of these, 41.1 % were African American/Black; 33.6% Asian, 12.5% Hispanic and 9.8% Caucasian. In addition, there are approximately two times more female undergraduate trainees than male, which Spychala noted, suggests that CCNY and MSKCC “might be having an impact on increasing the number of women in cancer research.”
Click here to get more information about the CCNY-MSKCC Partnership.
About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.2% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.