By Matt Hirsch
With a focus on serving the local Brooklyn communities and diversifying the field of biomedical cancer research, faculty members at Brooklyn College founded The Brooklyn College Cancer Center-Community Outreach, Research, and Education (BCCC-CURE). The center officially opened on Oct. 15 after a year and a half of research.
“What we aim to do is focus on cancers that are of high incidents in our local communities, that are affecting our students’ families, and our students themselves,” Dr. Jennifer Basil, a biology professor at BC and the center’s Associate Director of Community Outreach, told The Vanguard. She noted Cancer Center Director Maria Contel’s findings on triple-negative breast cancer as an example, which is prevalent among women of color.
BCCC-CURE’s focus on community outreach ties to student involvement at the center, where students train in fundamental cancer research and become “student ambassadors” to help educate their communities.
“We’re primarily working with community groups to educate the populace on common cancers that are found in our communities,” said Basil. “For instance, what kind of screening you need and also what a clinical trial is, and how to gain access to it.”
Earlier in the year, the center gave a series of talks to spread awareness about what cancers pose a risk for which age groups, where to get screened for specific types of cancers, and how to participate in clinical trials, which typically provide free medical care for participants.
“A lot of people are nervous about doctors. Who wants to go to a hospital to talk about cancer? Nobody wants to go to a hospital to hear a talk about cancer,” Basil said, noting that some people have hesitancy when it comes to doctor’s visits, whether it’s due to the high cost or discomfort. “You’d rather have someone come to your community hall or your church and say, ‘Hey, this is what you should be screened for, here’s where you can get screened and why it’s important.”
The center also trains students to translate information from doctors to patients who speak foreign languages in partnership with Memorial Sloan Kettering.
“We’ve already trained three cohorts in at least five different languages. They can go work in a hospital and help someone who doesn’t speak English as their first language to understand what they need to do,” Basil informed The Vanguard. “A lot of hospitals have to rely on online translation services, and it’s just not the same.”
Though the pandemic presented the center with some setbacks, it hasn’t deterred their progress.
With their work, Dr. Basil hopes to create lasting change in the community and create a relationship with local residents to encourage them to stay healthy and cancer-free.
“We’re reaching out to different community groups in these areas, which takes time because there’s a lot of mistrust,” said Basil. “We want to work with our community because they can help us gain the trust of people in their community so that they can get the resources and the information that they need.”