In a significant advancement for cancer health equity, the American Cancer Society has granted $4.08 million to The Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, empowering the launch of the Cancer Health Research Center at Mount Sinai. This pioneering initiative is poised to confront cancer-related health disparities head-on within the diverse and complex urban fabric of New York City, targeting the systemic and community-level determinants that perpetuate inequities in cancer outcomes.
The Cancer Health Research Center is designed to serve as a national exemplar for community-driven scientific inquiry, reflecting a paradigm shift in how cancer research integrates the voices and lived realities of marginalized populations. By emphasizing community-engaged navigation, the Center seeks to untangle the intricate social, economic, and structural barriers influencing the cancer continuum—from early prevention and screening to treatment adherence and quality end-of-life care.
Central to the Center’s operation is a robust collaboration with a carefully curated community advisory board and an ever-expanding cadre of trained Community Scientists drawn from the neighborhoods they serve. This approach ensures that each research agenda is not only scientifically rigorous but also culturally resonant and tailored to the needs of the populations most affected by cancer disparities. By embedding community expertise into the research design and implementation phases, the Center is setting new standards for participatory health research.
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Melissa Mazor, PhD, MS, RN, who co-directs Community Outreach and Engagement at The Tisch Cancer Institute, highlights the transformative potential of this grant. She underscores that addressing the social determinants of health is paramount to unlocking equitable cancer care outcomes. The Center’s research will dissect how factors such as socioeconomic status, access to healthcare resources, language barriers, and cultural differences intricately impact cancer risk, early detection, and survivorship among New York’s diverse populations.
The visionary leadership of Cardinale B. Smith, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator of the initiative and Chief Medical Officer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, further reinforces the Center’s collaborative ethos across institutions. Dr. Smith continues to shepherd the project alongside Dr. Mazor, whose role as site lead ensures that the Center’s missions are community-centered and actionable. This inter-institutional partnership exemplifies a cross-pollination of expertise fostering innovations in cancer health equity.
A key objective of the Cancer Health Research Center is to develop and refine cancer care models that extend beyond conventional healthcare frameworks. These models are deliberately community-delivered and linguistically concordant, crafted to dismantle longstanding structural impediments such as limited healthcare access, systemic bias, and economic inequity. By reimagining service delivery, the Center anticipates generating scalable interventions directly translatable to diverse urban settings nationally.
Investing in human capital is equally pivotal; the Center aims to attract and empower both emerging and established postdoctoral fellows and faculty investigators who possess a steadfast commitment to advancing cancer health equity. Training these cohorts in community-engaged methodologies and equity-focused research practices will foster a new generation of scholars adept at bridging laboratory discoveries with tangible community health improvements.
Empowerment of Community Scientists will be a hallmark of the Center’s translational mission. This cadre of community members, trained to interpret and disseminate research findings, will act as vital liaisons, transforming academic insights into real-world applications poised to reduce disparities. By elevating community agency in research processes, the Center recognizes the intrinsic value of local knowledge in shaping equitable healthcare innovations.
Ramon Parsons, MD, PhD, Director of The Tisch Cancer Institute, articulates the broader implications of this endeavor. He asserts that the Cancer Health Research Center not only promises groundbreaking insights into cancer disparities but also challenges the biomedical community to rethink cancer care delivery models. The Center is positioned to forge equitable health outcomes by embedding culturally responsive care within the communities historically underserved by traditional healthcare systems.
The Center’s research portfolio is set to initiate immediately with three integrated projects helmed by experts Jamilia Sly, PhD, Deborah Doroshow, MD, PhD, and Chris Woodrell, MD, MHS. These projects promise to harness interdisciplinary expertise, linking epidemiology, clinical medicine, social science, and health policy to dismantle cancer health disparities systematically. This integrated strategy underscores the necessity of multidimensional approaches to complex health inequities.
Looking forward, the full program rollout will deepen the Center’s engagement with local communities and expand the academic and translational research infrastructure required to sustain momentum. The emphasis on multi-level social determinants acknowledges that cancer disparities are rooted in broader societal inequities necessitating systemic change beyond biomedical interventions alone.
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai underpins this initiative, bringing its formidable research capacity and commitment to health justice to the fore. As one of the leading academic medical centers nationwide, Mount Sinai leverages extensive networks across seven member hospitals, providing a critical platform for diverse patient engagement and translational research endeavors that drive equitable health solutions.
With this investment, the American Cancer Society reinforces its role as a catalyst for innovative cancer research that places equity at the center of scientific discovery. The establishment of the Cancer Health Research Center at Mount Sinai represents a milestone in mobilizing collaborative, community-rooted scientific efforts that will shape the future of cancer prevention, care delivery, and survivorship for the most vulnerable populations.
Subject of Research: Cancer health disparities, community-engaged navigation, social determinants of health, cancer care equity.
Article Title: American Cancer Society Funds New Center to Tackle Cancer Health Inequities in New York City
News Publication Date: August 11, 2025
Web References:
Tisch Cancer Institute Community Scientist Program: https://icahn.mssm.edu/research/tisch/community/community-scientist-program
Keywords: Cancer research; Health equity; Community-engaged research; Social determinants of health; Cancer care delivery; Translational research; Health disparities; Urban health; Patient-centered care; Biomedical innovation; Community scientists; Cancer prevention and treatment
Tags: addressing cancer disparities New York CityAmerican Cancer Society grantcancer health equity initiativescancer prevention and treatment adherencecommunity advisory board in researchcommunity-driven cancer researchculturally resonant cancer researchmarginalized populations health outcomesMount Sinai cancer health research centerquality end-of-life care in cancersocial determinants of cancertrained community scientists in cancer