In 2023, the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Minority Health & Health Equity Research Center (MHERC) at UAB were awarded a $9.6 million grant over five years to participate in the National Cancer Institute’s Persistent Poverty Initiative. As one of five universities selected, UAB joins the NIH’s first major program to address how structural and institutional factors of persistent poverty relate to cancer.
The center is led by principal investigators Maria Pisu, Ph.D., professor of medicine and Mona Fouad, M.D., MPH, professor of medicine and director of the UAB MHERC.
Persistent Poverty Initiative Network
The Persistent Poverty Initiative network (PPIN) is the first major program to address the structural and institutional factors to alleviate the cumulative effects of poverty on cancer outcomes by building research capacity, fostering cancer prevention research, and partnering with communities to promote the implementation of community-based programs. It is coordinated by the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences of the National Cancer Institute.
