Community Office of COE Orange County Cancer Coalition (OC3) CSUF/UCI-CFCCC Cancer Health Equity Research Partnership (CHERP) Chao Lectureship CSUF/UCI-CFCCC Cancer Health Equity Research Partnership (CHERP) CHERP is a four-year research and training program that has a multi-pronged mission: to fund pilot research projects involving investigators from each institution while training under-represented minority (URM) undergraduates and graduate students on cancer disparities research. Home CSUF/UCI-CFCCC Cancer Health Equity Research Partnership (CHERP) CSUF/UCI-CFCCC Cancer Health Equity Research Partnership (CHERP) With a grant of over $264,000 from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the UCI Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (CFCCC) and California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) can establish a collaborative partnership focused on addressing cancer disparities of highest need in Orange County. Background and Goals Trends in cancer disparities in Orange County illustrate the growing need for innovative, collaborative solutions to this pressing public health issue. For example, research shows that Orange County’s Asian/Pacific Islander communities are disproportionately burdened by liver and lung cancer, Hispanic/Latino communities by stomach and cervical cancer, and Non-Hispanic Whites by breast and ovarian cancer. Through an NCI P20 grant, UCI and CSUF are teaming up to respond to these inequities with a goal to transform the future of cancer care. The CSUF/UCI-CFCCC Cancer Health Equity Research Partnership (CHERP) is a four-year research and training program that has a multi-pronged mission: to fund pilot research projects involving investigators from each institution while training under-represented minority (URM) undergraduates and graduate students on cancer disparities research. As a long-term goal, CHERP aims to enhance the pipeline of URM students trained in disparities research into the cancer workforce. UCI Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (CFCCC) The goal of the P20 pilot project program is to fund collaborative (CSUF-UCI) research addressing cancer and cancer disparity needs in the catchment area of Orange County. Learn more about opportunities to apply for cancer research pilot funding through the P20 CHERP grant. Click Here to Learn More California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) Reach out to CSUF Principal Investigator, Marcelo Tolmasky, PhD to learn what cancer research CSUF investigators are conducting and available training for under-represented minority (URM) undergraduates and graduate students on cancer disparities research. Click Here to Learn More CREP 2023-2024 Scholars Click each profile to learn more about these scholars Nathan Ballew Sandy Gadalla Matthew Gozon Heidy Ibarra Michelle Karam Daisy Martinez Mary Messih Nicolas Ngo Alondra Torres CREP 2022-2023 Scholars Click each profile to learn more about these scholars Mykayla Miller Mehri Lanceta Jenny Escalante Sara Sadek Jensen Low Leah Abidog Sally Heo Gloria Castañón Radhika Domadia Vyanka Mezcord Pilot Projects Pilot research projects involve investigators from each UCI and CSUF. Click below to learn about the awardees. 2022 Awardees Alice Lee, PhD, MPH (Assistant Professor, Public Health at CSUF) and Robert Bristow, MD, MBA (Professor and Chair, Obstetrics & Gynecology at UCI) collaborate on a project entitled "Examining the Disparities in Ovarian Cancer Survival among Asian Americans." Nicholas Nikolaidis, PhD (Associate Professor, Biological Sciences at CSUF) and Olga Razorenova, PhD, MS (Associate Professor, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at UCI) collaborate on a project entitled "Racial Disparity in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Lipid Metabolism." 2023 Awardees Matt Englar-Carlson, PhD (Professor, Counseling at CSUF) and Michael Hoyt, PhD (Professor, Population Health & Disease Prevention) collaborate on a project entitled "Optimization of a Goal-Focused Biobehavioral Intervention for Young Adult Latino Survivors of Testicular Cancer." Catherine Brennan, PhD, MS (Associate Professor, Biological Sciences) and Eric Potma, PhD (Associate Professor, Chemistry) collaborate on a project entitled "Developing Drosophila as a model for the analysis of lipid content and function in prostate cancer M2 macrophages and pro-metastatic circulating giant macrophages." Faculty PI's Sora Park Tanjasiri, DrPH, MPH Associate Director, Cancer Health Equity & Community Engagement Professor, Epidemiology Marcelo Tolmasky, PhD Professor at Cal State Fullerton, Biological Sciences Director, Center for Applied Biotechnology Studies Internal Advisory Committee Marian Waterman, PhD Deputy Director Co-Director of Center for Cancer Systems Biology Edward Nelson, MD Associate Director, Cancer Research Training & Education Coordination Chief, Division of Hematology/Oncology Karen Edwards, PhD Associate Director, Population Science & Cancer Control Chair, Department of Epidemiology Michelle Wood, PhD, MS Professor and Dept. Chair, CSUF Public Health Binod Tiwari, PhD Associate Professor, CSUF Civil and Environmental Engineering Sean Walker, PhD Professor and Associate Dean, CSUF Natural Sciences and Mathematics Jacqueline Tran, MPH, DrPH Community Leader Jasmeet Gill, PhD Associate Professor, CSUF Public Health News UC Irvine’s Dr. Shawn Griffin and CSU Fullerton Student Gloria Castañón Researching Health Disparities in Hispanic Populations; Connected Through Cancer Health Equity Research Partnership (CHERP). READ MORE CSUF Students Get Hands-On Opportunity in Cancer Disparities Research READ MORE Press Release: UCI and CSU Fullerton partner to advance cancer health disparities research with a focus on diversity and inclusion READ MORE