Center for the Promotion of Cancer Health Equity

The Center for the Promotion of Cancer Health Equity (CePCHE) is funded by the The Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) program at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. The COBRE supports the establishment and development of innovative biomedical research centers at Institutional Development Award (IDeA)-eligible institutions through awards for three sequential five-year phases.

We are CePCHE

Research Project Leaders (RPLs)

Each Research Project has proposed innovative science targeting cancer health disparities that has the potential to advance the field and jumpstart their pathway to independence. Meet CePCHE’s RPLs for 2023-2028!

Research Project Cores

Project 1:

Social determinants of health associated to the cervical cancer-related care across the cancer control continuum among women living with HIV in Puerto Rico.

Project 2:

Epidemiologic and germline genomic characterization of early-onset colorectal cancer among Hispanics.

Project 3:

Examining the factors on quality of end-of-life care among cancer patients in Puerto Rico

Project 4:

Multi-omics predictors of oral HPV outcomes among PLWH

CePCHE Directives

Principal Investigator CePCHE

Co-Principal Investigator CePCHE

Principal Investigator CePCHE

Dr. Colón-López is the Associate Scientific Director of the Community Outreach, Engagement and Policy and Lead Scientist at the University of Puerto Rico Cancer Center. She is an epidemiologist interested in health disparities and social determinants of health.

Co-Principal Investigator CePCHE

Dr. Baerga-Ortiz is a Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus where he leads a research group addressing diverse topics, including the microbiota as a risk factor for colorectal cancer.

Program Director

Dr. Vivian Colón-López (UPRCCC)
Dr. Abel Baega (UPR-MSC)

  1. Administrative Core

    External Advisory Committee
    Internal Advisory Committee
    Mentorship Program
    Pilot Projects
    Evaluation
    Training and Outreach/In-Reach

    1. Project 1

      Social determinants of health associated to the cervical cancer-related care across the cancer control continuum among women living with HIV in Puerto Rico.
      Dr. M. Soto-Salgado

    2. Project 2

      Epidemiologic and germline genomic characterization of early-onset colorectal cancer among Hispanics.
      Dr. M. González-Pons

  2. Research Core

    Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Core (BBC)
    Dr. Brenda Torres
    Dr. L. Pericchi
    Dr. J. Pérez-Santiago

    1. Project 3

      Examining the factors on quality of end-of-life care among cancer patients in Puerto Rico.
      Dr. K. Ortíz-Ortíz

    2. Project 4

      Multi-omics predictors of oral HPV outcomes among PLWH
      Dr. J. Pérez- Santiago

Cores

Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Core (BBC)

The BBC will provide specialized support to the RPLs as well as researchers and students from the UPR system through a variety of services including sophisticated genomic data analysis and in the implementation of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML)

Outreach and Community

The Community Outreach and Engagement Core will provide support to Research Project Leads (RPLs) and develop dissemination efforts to support RPLs needs.

Administrative Core

The CePCHE Administrative Core consists of 5 components: Administration and finances, Monitoring and evaluation, External Advisory Committee (EAC), Internal Advisory Committee (IAC), and Training and Outreach/In-Reach.

Evaluation Team

The evaluation efforts are led by evaluators of the Center for Evaluation and Sociomedical Research (CIES, by its Spanish acronym) of the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus.