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The American Cancer Society has partnered with the National Basketball Wives Association (NBWA) to help ensure the fight against cancer is truly a team sport and includes cancer researchers of all backgrounds. Through this partnership, NBWA will advocate for breakthroughs and equitable access to cancer prevention research opportunities. Funds raised will support The American Cancer Society¡¯s Diversity in Cancer Research Internship program, and will provide internship grants to Black and African American college students at Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) aiming to help eliminate barriers for their entry into the field of cancer research.

Fewer than two percent of cancer research grant applications are submitted by Black and African American cancer researchers. The Diversity in Research Internships program will push scientific workforce diversity forward and drive high-quality research that is relevant to a diverse society. A more inclusive research environment will better address health disparities and could enhance recruitment efforts in clinical research protocols to be more inclusive of people of color.

The lack of workforce diversity within the scientific community is a known issue. Through an endowment from the Gross Family Foundation, the Diversity in Cancer Research Program?will be the permanent umbrella program under which?the American Cancer Society¡¯s effort to foster a more diverse scientific workforce community will?be based. Diversity in Cancer Research will help us achieve a more diverse scientific workforce ¨C by promoting visibility of the career field, thus increasing the number of research grant applicants whose racial or ethnic background is underrepresented.

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