Charles R. Drew University Division of Cancer Research and Training

Charles Drew University is a private, nonprofit health science institution established in the Watts area in 1966. Defined as a Minority Serving Institution, its mandate is to conduct education and research in a mostly minority community that has been underserved historically. The Division of Cancer Research and Training was formally established in 2002 to address cancer health disparities through a multi-pronged translational research approach. In 2009, the National Institutes of Health awarded a grant for the formation of partnership between the Division and the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center to enhance infrastructure for cancer disparities research, training, and outreach and to improve cancer health outcomes in the greater communities these two institutions serve. The Partnership's overarching goal is to create cancer programs aimed at understanding the reasons behind significant cancer disparities and related impacts on racial and ethnic minority and socio-economically disadvantaged populations.