- Posted in All University
- Category: Campus News
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, PA ~ President Ivory V. Nelson has announced that Lincoln University, in partnership with Pennsylvania State College of Medicine, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Northeast Regional Cancer Institute, has been awarded a grant of $4.2 million over a four-year period to participate in an investigation of colorectal cancer in northeast Pennsylvania.
The grant has been awarded in response to the Pennsylvania Department of Health RFA for Collaborative Research on Vaccine Development or Gene-Environment Interactions. Lincoln will receive $471,966 over the project period.
Colorectal cancer is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer in the U.S. and the incidence is particularly high in the northeastern section of Pennsylvania. The investigation will focus on modifiable risk factors, including lifestyle and specific patterns of diet, that could be changed to lower the risk of the disease. The findings from this investigation may help to identify high-risk individuals for early prevention and intervention.
Lincoln’s principal investigator is Dr. Delroy Louden, a professor of psychology. Two faculty members from the biology department, Dr. Anna Hull and Dr. Karen Baskerville, will work with Dr. Louden to develop specific research activities in collaboration with their colleagues from Penn State College of Medicine.
Dr. Louden, trained in epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University, was a post-doctoral fellow to Dr. Gary Chase, chief of the division of biostatistics at Penn State College of Medicine. Dr. Chase will serve as the statistician on the project.
Funding is also provided for equipment and internships for students to gain research experience and learn modern techniques in molecular genetics and cancer epidemiology. The long-term goal for Lincoln’s faculty is to develop a body of research in cancer epidemiology in the African-American population.
Founded in 1854, Lincoln University is a premier, historically Black University that combines the best elements of a liberal arts and sciences-based undergraduate core curriculum and selected graduate programs to meet the needs of those living in a highly technological and global society. The University is nationally recognized as a major producer of African Americans with undergraduate degrees in the physical sciences (biology, chemistry and physics); computer and informational sciences; biological and life sciences. Lincoln has an enrollment of 2,423 undergraduate and graduate students.