Moriah Cunningham has a deep connection to her family, faith and the African American community – and giving back to the parts of her life that shaped her is embedded in her work as a doctoral student studying prostate cancer.
“African American males are two times more likely to develop prostate cancer and die from the disease in their lifetime, compared to every other race,” she explains. In fact, several of her uncles have been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Moriah is exploring genetic differences in prostate cancer cells between African American and European American patients. She focuses on a protein called Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 or PARP-1, which plays a role in DNA damage. Her preliminary research shows that there may be higher PARP-1 activity in African American patients. She hopes her findings will help reveal whether certain therapies targeting PARP-1 will work better in African American patients.
Alongside her laboratory research, Moriah has organized outreach events as a community liaison for Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center – Jefferson Health. The first event took place at her hometown church in Germantown, Pennsylvania. More than twenty attendees took advantage of free prostate cancer screening at the event. She built on the success of the event the next year, and got national organizations like Zero Prostate Cancer, whose mission is to raise awareness amongst communities most impacted by the disease, to participate.
“These events have been a labor of love,” she says. “If we can even reach one person, it’s all worth it.”
