Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) has announced a $6 million grant in support of efforts to address the low participation of Black, Indigenous, and people of color in clinical cancer trials.

Funded by biotechnology company Genentech and awarded through SU2C's Health Equity Initiative, the grant will support a team of doctors and scientists from four New York City institutions working to address the issue, with a focus on breast, prostate, and liver cancers, all of which disproportionately impact racial and ethnic minority groups.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, only 4 percent of clinical trial participants are Black and only 5 percent are Latinx — despite the fact that minority groups in the U.S. have the highest death rate and shortest survival rate for most cancers. To help address the problem, the initiative will work with community organizations to raise awareness about cancer research in communities where individuals often are not made aware of the latest cancer treatment and research breakthroughs; help train scientists and doctors to better understand how life circumstances affect the health of certain communities, as well as the importance of engaging with and including a diverse group of patients in cancer research and clinical trials; and explore ways to better inform underrepresented patients about clinical trials, including the creation of a digital system that  links patients with clinical trials in the New York City area.

"Much of our standard of care in cancer is grounded in research with mostly white populations," said Nina Bickell, professor of population health science and policy at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and co-lead of cancer prevention and control at Mount Sinai's Tisch Cancer Institute, who will lead the team. "Our goal is to figure out how we can change that — in how scientists approach their work, how medically underserved communities can learn more about pioneering cancer research and treatments and how care delivery systems can make it easier for patients to learn about clinical trials."