Celeste Cruz/Vaquero Radio
The National Institutes of Health awarded UTRGV $18.4 million to establish a Cancer Research Center in the community on Oct. 3rd.
Dr. Subhash Chauhan, professor in criminology and microbiology and the director for the cancer center, explained the type of cancers the facility will focus on.
“So, primarily, we’ll focus on almost every cancer,” Chauhan said. “But certain cancers are more prevalent here in the Rio Grande Valley, including, like, liver cancer, gallbladder cancer, cervical cancer. So, obviously these are the cancer we will give a priority on.”
Chauhan pointed out one of the primary goals for the center will be to implement community feedback.
“Listen to the them, what kind of challenges they are facing, what kind of, maybe, social behavioral problems they are facing that might … contribute to cancer,” he said. “Are there any environmental issues that are different than the rest of … Texas and country.”
Chauhan said there will be two facilities. The first facility is where the patients will be diagnosed, and the second is where patients will be treated.
“If they need a surgery, they will be able to do the surgery,” he said. “If they need any chemotherapy infusion, they will be able to do that. And if their tissue needs to get any kind of genotyping or any kind of analysis, then we will be able to do it here at the research center.”
Criminal justice freshman Ethan Garcia said the center should hopefully be able to collaborate with other hospitals in the future.
Integrated sciences freshman Sonia Garza said she believes the research center will have a positive impact on the community.
“We need a lot of nurses in the world to take care of people, so I think it will be a good accomplishment,” Garza said.
The Cancer Research Center will also allow students from the UTRGV School of Medicine to work at the facility to gain experience in the medical field.
This is Celeste Cruz for Vaquero Radio.
