As part of the Louisiana Cancer Research Center’s (LCRC) emphasis on expanding its reach across the state, Center Director and CEO Dr. Joe W. Ramos will travel to North Louisiana on May 1-2 to meet with scientists from Louisiana Tech University and the University of Louisiana Monroe.

Every year up to 28,000 Louisianans receive a cancer diagnosis and cancer is the second leading cause of death in the state. It is the mission of LCRC to reduce this high burden of cancer.

“It is our priority to serve the entire state by expanding our faculty membership and supporting collaborations that advance our mission of reducing the burden of cancer in our state,” Ramos said.

Ramos will welcome the scientists as new research members of the LCRC, which was established by the Louisiana Legislature in 2002 to raise the level of research and to promote education, diagnosis, detection, and treatment of cancer. The LCRC is the state’s cancer research consortium including LSU Health New Orleans, Tulane University School of Medicine, Ochsner Health, and Xavier University of Louisiana.

“There is an impressive amount of cancer research in North Louisiana and our state has a tremendous amount to gain by facilitating collaborations as much as we can. The purpose of my visit is to make those connections happen,” said Ramos, who will be making a presentation entitled “Elucidation and therapeutic targeting of tumor cell invasion pathways” as part of Louisiana Tech’s School of Biological Sciences seminar series.

Ramos’ presentation will take place on May 1 at 3:30 p.m. and is open to the public.  It is also available through a Zoom webinar which can be found here.

“We are excited to host Dr. Ramos on our campus and share our interests, strengths, and resources with him,” Dr. Jamie Newman, Associate Dean of the College of Applied and Natural Sciences said. “It is a great opportunity for us to find innovative and meaningful ways to collaborate and improve research, education, and health outcomes across our state.”

Last year, LCRC scientists at member institutions were awarded a total of $31.6 million in cancer-related funding from the National Institutes of Health and $14.6 million in cancer-related funding from the National Cancer Institute.

View a news report on Dr. Ramos' visit that aired on KNOE-TV in Monroe on May 1.

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