UTRGV's $18M cancer research aims to tackle Valley health disparities

EDINBURG, Texas (ValleyCentral) — With $103 million invested in research, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is paving the way to becoming a high-level research university.

UTRGV is working towards a Carnegie R1 status, which is a recognition given to institutions that spend at least $50 million annually in research and award 70 or more research doctorates each year.

UTRGV is already more than doubling that spending requirement.

At the school of medicine, UTRGV allocated more than $29.2 million for research.

In the College of Engineering and Computer Science, spending is nearly $19 million. The College of Sciences is more than $21 million.

One of UTRGV's larger research projects is an $18 million project in cancer research.

At the newest UTRGV cancer and surgery center in McAllen, research to fight health disparities in the Rio Grande Valley is underway.

Nearly $18.4 million is set aside specifically to target major cancers that impact us most here in the Valley, such as liver, gall bladder, and cervical.

UTRGV's research senior vice president and Dean of the Graduate College, John Saygin, said in the Valley, it is impossible not to know someone who battles one of these cancers.

The Valley is home to more than 1.3 million people, and UTRGV researchers said it has some of the highest rates of liver, gall bladder, stomach, and cervical cancers in the country.

"Considering the statistics in the Valley about the health disparities," said Saygin. "The incidence of these cases, which varies from all different kinds of cancer, you cannot find any family out there who hasn't been impacted by that."

There are three major legs to this cancer research project:

The research into cervical cancer will focus on studying HPV genotypes and immune responses in women in the Valley.

The goal is to develop strategies for preventing and treating this cancer.

For liver cancer research, the team, including Dr. Everardo Cobos with UT Health RGV, will study how contributors like alcohol, smoking, and stress can come into play with liver cancer.

In the Valley, Saygin said, there is another important factor to take into consideration with health disparities.

UTRGV researchers said nearly a fourth of all families in the Valley live below the poverty line, and that may also be a contributing factor to cancer.

The last leg of this research is a social behavioral interventions project, which will focus on how to prevent and educate the Valley about lifestyle changes, and community support to reduce cancer.

The $18 million investment is thanks to the National Institutes of Health, which allowed UTRGV to establish the Rio Grande Valley Cancer Health Disparity Research Center.