The American Cancer Society joins the NBA Foundation’s newest round of grantees.

Dr. Ellie Daniels was at a summer conference with the American Cancer Society when she suddenly felt arms wrap around her shoulders. They were the arms of a parent, Ann Marie Wallace, whose son, Jeremy, was enrolled in the American Cancer Society Center for Diversity in Cancer Research Training that Daniels oversees.

But this wasn’t a typical embrace. That touching moment was forged by gratitude and linked to a common cause.

Wallace said her husband, Dr. Charles Wallace Jr., had died in 2019 from multiple myeloma. Jeremy’s research at DICR was on the same disease that took the life of his father.

“That touched me,” Daniels said. “Because we’re not only impacting the lives of folks who want to pursue a career in cancer research care but the impact that cancer has on a family.”

The American Cancer Society Center for Diversity in Cancer Research Training aims to develop and propel underrepresented students of color into the medical field through hands-on research programming. According to its site, the program’s immersive trainee experience and mentorship-based approach work to address the lack of diversity in scientific and clinical training environments. 

The Black community is disproportionately affected by cancer, yet scientists of color lack representation in the research field — in fact, they receive only 2% of grant funding from the National Institute of Health. 

It is DICR’s mission to change that statistic. 

“If you look at the Black population — in breast cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer — Black patients live shorter periods of time, present with more aggressive disease, but stage-for-stage [and] grade-for-grade outcomes are worse,” said Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer for the American Cancer Society. “I think it really can’t be stated too strongly – to have someone who looks like you [that] understand your background leads to engagement and trust. And we know that leads to much better health outcomes.”

Jeremy Wallace presents his research on multiple myeloma.

Jeremy Wallace is one of 282 young scientists to join DICR. According to their most recent impact report, 96% of interns reported plans to pursue a post-baccalaureate degree. Perhaps Wallace will pursue that route, but first, he’s en route to pursuing his undergraduate degree from Rhodes College in Memphis.

Over the next decade, the ACS’ goal is to fund 1,000 internships for students like Jeremy. The NBA Foundation’s contribution to the cause makes a direct impact.

“In order to provide stipends for people, research opportunities, having webinars, we need to have the resources to do this,” Dahut shared, “I think that we have the potential to change the face of cancer research.”

The program attracted 169 interns in the summer of 2023, putting them even ahead of pace for this goal and more than five times larger than the initial group of 32 interns in 2021.

“If we could fund 1,000 folks from underrepresented backgrounds who had cancer research experience, I think that could fundamentally change the health care system,” Dahut said. “We really want to build cohorts of folks together to look out for each other.”

Dahut’s words are embodied by the work of Lesa Felton, who joined the program in 2023 from Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. After witnessing her father’s diagnosis with prostate cancer and her mother’s with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Felton says she connected with folks in her community who have been inspired to prioritize their health through her research.  

Lesa Felton presents her findings.

“I can’t tell you how many text messages I get [from] people, saying ‘I want to get my mammogram today’ or ‘get an ultrasound,’ or ‘I’m having a biopsy,’ or ‘I got my colonoscopy.’ ” Felton, said, “For someone to take time out of their day, it keeps me going. Because they took that one step, now I got to take five. I got to make sure that they get the care and the treatment that they need.”

Those types of conversations and the future it may allow are why the DICR and its fellows exist as they aim to mold the future of medicine.

“There is a calling for those that go into the medical profession,” Ann-Marie Wallace said. “It is really a calling to want to help others, even knowing when you could have that same diagnosis.” 

For Felton, the ability to help others only further solidifies her passion for medicine: “I know that when I leave this earth, I will have made a difference.”