The American Cancer Society, Winship Partner to Accelerate Cancer Research in Georgia

The American Cancer Society (ACS), in partnership with Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University (Winship), announced a new project that aims to significantly accelerate cancer research and improve patient outcomes.

Supported by a generous $6 Million, three-year grant from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, a cloud-based technical infrastructure is being built to connect Winship’s expert researchers with ACS Population Science researchers and relevant biospecimens and data within their premier Cancer Prevention Studies (CPS) cohorts. Combined, CPS-II and CPS-3 include over 1.5 million participants with over 400,000 biologic samples, such as blood, buccal cells, saliva, stool, and tumor tissue, and support improved understanding of cancer risk and outcomes and quality of life after a cancer diagnosis.

The Winship team will help maximize the value of the CPS resources by contributing specific expertise in core pathology and bioinformatics. This partnership is the first of its kind both for ACS and for Winship, and through this model, would significantly increase the number of Atlanta-based investigators across different disciplines who can use these resources for scientific advancement, all of which will target improved cancer outcomes and/or quality of life after a cancer diagnosis, as well as expanded methods of cancer prevention and early detection.

"These CPS cohorts have been instrumental in advancing our understanding of cancer prevention and improving outcomes after a cancer diagnosis," said Dr. Alpa Patel, senior vice president of Population Science for ACS and the principal investigator of the CPS-II and CPS-3. "This partnership offers us a tremendous opportunity to amplify and accelerate the scientific discoveries that will come out of these cohorts in the future."

By the completion of the three-year project period, ACS will have successfully built its data pipeline and engaged Winship experts in research using its CPS cohort data and specimens through ten new collaborative pilot projects. Through this partnership, both institutions will have increased resources and research capacity, attracted new talent, and created new opportunities for future joint research funding opportunities.

"This partnership is certainly among our most exciting and innovative," said Dr. William L. Dahut, Chief Scientific Officer at the American Cancer Society. "We are deeply grateful to the Woodruff Foundation for supporting this work that will significantly accelerate cancer research in Atlanta."

"We at Winship Cancer Institute are excited to partner with the American Cancer Society and are grateful for the generous support from the Woodruff Foundation," said Dr. Suresh Ramalingam, executive director of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. "Through this collaboration, our teams will gain new insight into how cancer impacts our communities and how we can help more people live longer, healthier, cancer-free lives.