On Sept. 29, East Alabama Health and Tuskegee University announced a research partnership that will bring together doctors and scientists from both organizations to study, diagnose and treat various forms of cancer.
The research conducted through this initiative will focus on improving diagnostic methods like liquid and tissue biopsies for various forms of cancer. Additionally, they will explore innovative treatment methods for breast cancer, gynecologic cancer and prostate cancer.
"The research partnership brings together a multidisciplinary team of physicians and investigative scientists united in the pursuit of improving treatment for patients battling cancer throughout the southeast," East Alabama Health stated in a press release for the joint announcement.
This partnership is intended to combine initiatives between East Alabama Healtha and Tuskegee University. "We are extremely proud to partner with Tuskegee University to conduct cancer research that holds real promise for members of our community and beyond…This work reflects our profound commitment to advancing cancer research, and most importantly, to the patients and families who depend on us," said the president and CEO of East Alabama Health, Laura Grill, in the same press release.
East Alabama Health is one of the largest employers in the region, with approximately 3,800 employees and 380 physicians. It is dedicated to meeting the growing healthcare needs in Lee County and beyond. East Alabama Health currently encompasses the East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika, a full-service hospital with 314 general and acute care beds. They also manage the EAMC-Lanier Rural Emergency Hospital in Valley, Alabama, and the $40 million Spencer Cancer Center in Opelika, which was built in 2019 which expanded their oncology program. Additionally, East Alabama Health operates the Auburn Medical Pavilion, built in 2021 within the Auburn University Research Park, which provides a range of healthcare services to the community, including its own East Alabama Medical Center Freestanding Emergency Department. East Alabama Health comprises numerous other medical practices that serve the needs of the 11-county area it represents.
Tuskegee University, located in Tuskegee, Alabama, is currently ranked by U.S. News and World Report as the no. 4 HBCU in the nation and no. 1 in the state of Alabama. Their biomedical research program has been supported in part by the National Institute of Health Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Program established in 1985. Tuskegee University has been focusing on increasing the number of minority researchers in biomedical fields and serving the direct needs of its community regarding health and medicine.
Last month, they broke ground on the Carter Genomic Research Center that hopes to "empower HBCUs like Tuskegee to become key players in a rapidly growing field, by providing cutting-edge training and research opportunities for the next generation of scientists and healthcare leaders, particularly needed in the southern Black Belt," Tuskegee University said in a statement.
The Tuskegee University Center for Biomedical research, whom East Alabama Health is partnering with, which is led by Dr. Deepa Bedia and Dr. Tim Turner, “Aims to strengthen the biomedical research capacity of TU. Provide career development and mentoring activities to meet the needs of TU junior and mid-level investigators. Establish, maintain, and sustain a high-quality research infrastructure of shared core facilities. Establish relationships, build trust, and engage local communities and community based-organizations to learn from and to educate community members on health issues that affect them.”
Through the Tuskegee University Center for Biomedical Research and its collaboration with East Alabama Health, students will have the opportunity to work directly with physicians and experts in the field.
"The cancer research on campus is helping to influence the health of residents of this region and around the country. This is the kind of collaboration that exposes our students to life-changing research as we train them to solve the world's most complex problems," said the President and CEO of Tuskegee University in the press release.
The announcement of this strategic partnership aims to expand both organizations' commitments to providing much-needed clinical research not only in our area but nationally, as well as educating the next generation of physicians and scientists.
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