UNM Recognized for Leadership in Minority Cancer Community

The Amer­i­can Asso­ci­a­tion for Can­cer Research, the world’s old­est and largest pro­fes­sional orga­ni­za­tion ded­i­cated to advanc­ing can­cer research, rec­og­nized two sci­en­tists at the UNM Can­cer Cen­ter for excel­lence within the nation­wide com­mu­nity of minor­ity can­cer sci­en­tists and minority-serving institutions.

Kristina Flo­res

Kristina Flo­res won a Minority-Serving Insti­tu­tion Fac­ulty Scholar in Can­cer Research Award, which hon­ors lead­ers in the minor­ity can­cer com­mu­nity. She is one of 36 recip­i­ents nation­wide. Flo­res is a research assis­tant pro­fes­sor within the Depart­ment of Inter­nal Med­i­cine and a mem­ber of the UNM Can­cer Center’s Can­cer Pop­u­la­tion Sci­ences Program.

Alexan­dra Fajardo

A sec­ond UNM researcher, Alexan­dra Fajardo, a doc­toral can­di­date in bio­med­ical sci­ences, received a Minor­ity Scholar in Can­cer Research Award, which rec­og­nizes mer­i­to­ri­ous minor­ity sci­en­tists at the early stages of their careers. She is one of just 50 recip­i­ents nationwide.

Flo­res and Fajardo will receive their awards and present research at the AACR Annual Meet­ing, April 2–6 in Orlando, Florida.

“The UNM Can­cer Cen­ter is hon­ored to be train­ing the next gen­er­a­tion of can­cer inves­ti­ga­tors,” said Cheryl Will­man, direc­tor and CEO of the UNM Can­cer Cen­ter. “It is part of our mis­sion as a minority-serving insti­tu­tion in the nation’s only majority-minority state to edu­cate and men­tor out­stand­ing new fac­ulty and up-and-coming researchers from all the com­mu­ni­ties we serve. We are delighted for Dr. Flo­res and Ms. Fajardo, and incred­i­bly proud of their accomplishments.”

The AACR awards under­score the UNM Can­cer Center’s com­mit­ment to mul­ti­eth­nic and mul­ti­cul­tural diver­sity in every aspect of its mis­sion: from the deliv­ery of com­pas­sion­ate, cutting-edge can­cer care to all New Mex­i­cans and the reduc­tion of can­cer health dis­par­i­ties in part­ner­ship with New Mexico’s com­mu­ni­ties, to the pur­suit of world-class research into can­cer causes and cures and the edu­ca­tion of young sci­en­tists of diverse back­grounds and research interests.

“I am thrilled to be rec­og­nized by the AACR,” Flo­res said. “UNM has pro­vided a sup­port­ive envi­ron­ment for purs­ing a range of can­cer research projects, includ­ing ones that uniquely reflect the com­mu­ni­ties and health dis­par­i­ties found in our state. I am grate­ful to the men­tor­ship of Drs. Mar­i­anne Berwick and Steve Belin­sky from the UNM Can­cer Center’s Pop­u­la­tion Sci­ences Pro­gram.” Flo­res is con­duct­ing research rel­e­vant to lung can­cer, exam­in­ing the rela­tion­ship between aspects of folate metab­o­lism – folate is a B vit­a­min that occurs nat­u­rally in food – and a mol­e­c­u­lar process known as hyper­me­thy­la­tion that is asso­ci­ated with lung can­cer risk and could even­tu­ally aid in early detec­tion of the dis­ease. She will present find­ings from this research at the upcom­ing AACR Annual Meet­ing. Flo­res also par­tic­i­pates in col­lab­o­ra­tive research on can­cer edu­ca­tion and pre­ven­tion with Navajo com­mu­ni­ties in New Mex­ico, part of the UNM Can­cer Center’s com­mit­ment to address, reduce and elim­i­nate can­cer health dis­par­i­ties in the state.

“Receiv­ing this award is a great honor,” Fajardo said. “I am grate­ful to the AACR for this recog­ni­tion, and to the UNM Bio­med­ical Sci­ences Grad­u­ate pro­gram, espe­cially my men­tors Drs. Marco Bisoffi and Todd Thomp­son, for the oppor­tu­nity to con­tribute to cutting-edge can­cer research.” Fajardo is inves­ti­gat­ing novel mech­a­nisms to tar­get the andro­gen recep­tor – i.e., the male sex hor­mone recep­tor – for treat­ment of prostate can­cer uti­liz­ing exper­i­men­tal ther­a­peu­tic agents dis­cov­ered at UNM. She will present her research at the upcom­ing AACR Annual Meet­ing. After her antic­i­pated grad­u­a­tion this spring, Fajardo plans to pur­sue a career in can­cer research and drug development.