The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is celebrating an $18M grant for its cancer research center. The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMDH) awarded the grant in the fall of 2024, accelerating an effort to determine the root causes of cancer and health disparities throughout the Rio Grande Valley. UTRGV researchers are optimistic that their studies will improve cancer prevention and treatment and knowledge in oncology, microbiology, and immunology.
Dr. Subash C. Chauhan, a professor and division chief of the university’s Cancer Immunology and Microbiology Group since June 2019, co-directs the Administrative Core of the university’s research center. Dr. Chauhan notes that the grant followed an extensive survey by the NIMDH.
“It was almost a yearlong process,” Chauhan said. “We feel very strongly about this fundingand we feel very privileged.”
The grantors join several institutions that have financed the university’s research, including the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT).
The financial support is a response to health concerns throughout South Texas. The NIMDH, a National Institute of Health (NIH) department, seeks to address healthcare disparities among members of rural communities, ethnic minority populations, and low socioeconomic backgrounds. The recent grant represents a shared mission to improve health throughout the Valley, where cancer affects a disproportionate percentage of the population.
“We would like to reduce cancer health disparities,” Chauhan said. “Liver cancer and cervical cancers are highly prevalent in the Rio Grande Valley.”
The center hopes to realize its goal by closely examining demographic data. The Community Engagement Core is among the core units of the research center, which invites local citizens to engage in research and health-related surveys. Researchers in this department measure various factors with possible connections to cancer, including age, socioeconomic status, education, lifestyle and dietary habits.
Chauhan observes that nonmedical factors could contribute to cancer diagnoses, suggesting that younger citizens and small families may have an atypical approach to healthcare needs. General awareness or acceptance of medical protocol, such as operational procedures and vaccinations, could also explain cancer-related disparities. The university hopes to discover noteworthy trends with future research, but several theories have already informed its studies. One theory suggests that the Rio Grande Valley may have a harmful concentration of heavy metals in its water supply, leading to various health complications.
“Arsenic is a good example,” Chauhan said. “You don’t want that in your system.”
The center also includes an Investigator Development Core and a Research Capacity Core, which facilitate and execute general laboratory research. Their study of cancer cells relies primarily on human samples from affected patients. Chauhan’s division seeks to uncover valuable information within this microbiome, including the genetic framework of cancer cells. Successful research could illuminate the effects of cancer on members of specific genetic backgrounds.
The center is equally committed to discovering new and effective treatments for patients. Chauhan notes that some treatments fail to target malignant tumors, citing chemotherapy as an example of a remedy that affects the body at large. One goal of his research division is to develop treatments that combat tumors without causing damage to larger organ systems throughout the body.
“In the future, we will be able to develop a more personalized approach to medicine,” Chauhan said.
Cancer prevention remains the priority for university researchers. The center hopes to discover more preemptive methods than curative treatments, noting that cancer remedies have unfortunate limitations.
“When someone has stage four cancer, that’s too late to do anything,” Chauhan said. “We want to stop the cancer before it starts.”
For more information about UTRGV health services, visit uthealthrgv.org.
