Akinyemi OjesinaAkinyemi Ojesina, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of epidemiology in the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, has been awarded a V Scholar grant from the V Foundation for Cancer Research. The grant is funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund.
V Scholar grants are awarded to young investigators developing their own independent laboratory research projects. Ojesina’s project is investigating biomarkers for predicting tumor recurrence. The grant total is $200,000 over two years.
The V Foundation for Cancer Research is one of the nation’s leading cancer research funding organizations. The Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund, established in remembrance of the longtime ESPN anchor, continues to explore ethnically based disparities and assists some of the most vulnerable and disproportionately affected minority populations battling cancer.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent data, black men have the highest cancer incidence rates, and both black men and black women have a higher cancer death rate than their white counterparts. Cancer is the leading cause of death among Hispanics, accounting for 21 percent of deaths overall and 15 percent of deaths in children.