Congratulations to Black in Cancer and Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research who put on the excellent 2024 Black in Cancer conference over two days last week, inspiring 200+ oncologists, cancer researchers, students, patient advocates and funders to get out of their comfort zones to enact change. A prominent theme across the conference was the need to improve the diversity of clinical trials through patient and public involvement and further investigate the biological and social factors contributing to the higher mortality rate in Black cancer patients. We must continue to foster and engage with communities to improve both the quality of our research and health outcomes in the Black community. A highlight of the event was the keynote address from Melissa Boneta Davis, lead of Cancer Grand Challenges team SAMBAI who are doing some pioneering work utilising quantified ancestry to unravel genetic vs. environmental influences in tumour biology among race/ethnic groups, including epigenetic cell signalling and immunological responses in the tumour microenvironment and systemic immune regulation. It was fantastic to also see the great #CRUKFunded research presented by PhD students Adesewa Adebisi (Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute) Joanne Oke (Manchester Cancer Research Centre) and Sarah Williams (Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute) and our travel bursary recipients. See more updates from the conference using #BiCconf24
Hope to attend next year!
Thank you so much for your ongoing support!