Carver Genomic Research Center at Tuskegee University

The center's vision includes innovation and catalyzing:

• a robust genomic educational and research program dedicated to educating, sustaining, and nurturing the next generation of the genomic science workforce, fostering diversity contributions to the university’s mission,
• the advancement of genomic scientific enquiries through expanding the infrastructure and facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration for genomic research,
• the professional development of a faculty engaged in genomic research, and
• community-based activities and research that promote awareness and active participation of the local community in genomic research.

Administrative Core
Co-Leads: Deepa Bedi, M.D., Ph.D., and Balu Karanam, Ph.D

The Administrative Core (AC) enhances genomic research and scientific knowledge dissemination through interdisciplinary research, faculty development, and strategic partnerships. It provides comprehensive administrative and logistical support for all center operations and manages financial accounts for partnership activities. The AC is dedicated to professional growth, supporting the mentoring and training of junior and mid-level biomedical investigators to strengthen research capacity and foster inclusivity. These efforts not only advance genomic research but also significantly contribute to the TU's broader research goals. By supporting these initiatives at CGRC, the AC ensures TU remains at the forefront of innovation in genomic research.
 

Workforce Development Core
Co-Leads: Honghe Wang, Ph.D., and Chitra Nayak, Ph.D.

The goal of the Genomic Workforce Development Core (GWDC) is to provide extensive support and training opportunities for promising scholars from minority serving institution by empowering them to pursue careers in genomic-related research fields. This core will offer various genomics and data science-related courses, master programs, and network training activities for students, post-docs or TU faculty to improve participants' understanding and application of genomics and data science concepts. Additionally, the GWDC core will leverage resources available from other cores to provide professional development opportunities for different stage investigators, thus laying the foundation for a career pathway in genomic or data analytic research. 
 

Community Engagement Core
Co-Leads: Vivian Carter, Ph.D., and Chastity Bradford, Ph.D.

The overall goal of the Community Engagement Core (CEC) is to implement and evaluate an evidence-based, theory-informed, multi-level, genomic education program (GEP) to address the determinants for African American (AA) participation in genomic research. CEC will help promote awareness of the cancer genomics, convene the Black Belt Community Advisory Roundtable to facilitate input into the project activities and research projects. CEC will also train a cadre of lay community navigators to serve as Genomic Community Navigators with a focus on participation in genomic biobanking and research; and implement the communitywide adult and youth education program, with a media campaign to provide accessible information about genomics and screening.

Dissecting the key Xenobiotic alterations by transcriptomics, epigenetic and metabolomic profiling in Urothelial Carcinoma
Lead: Balu Karanam, Ph.D.

Bladder cancer, the sixth most common cancer in the U.S., affects over 80,000 Americans annually and causes 20,000 deaths. Early detection is possible, making it often curable, but disparities exist. Women and Black patients are typically diagnosed at later stages, resulting in worse long-term survival compared to white males. Despite women receiving optimal treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer, their survival rates remain lower. This research aims to understand bladder cancer's molecular mechanisms through transcriptomics, genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, aiming to develop new therapies and improve clinical interventions.

Genomic study to characterize the role of genetic and epigenetic factors affecting the tumor phenotype of triple negative breast cancer in women of African ethnicity 
Lead: Deepa Bedi, M.D., Ph.D.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive breast cancer subtype that disproportionately affects women of African origin. African-American (AA) women with TNBC have worse clinical outcomes than women of European American (EA) descent.  The purpose of this study is to determine whether genetic ancestry play a role in gene expression, genomic landscapes and cellular heterogeneity in primary TNBC in BC patients of African ethnicity. We aim to explore the association of African genetic ancestry in admixed-African breast cancer patients. We propose cancer genomic study to characterize the genetic and epigenetic evolution of tumor and tumor immune microenvironment by multi-omic approach.

Integrative Histo-Genomic Analysis via Interpretable and Multi-dimensional Deep Learning Approaches for Pan-Cancer Risk Classification and Targeted Therapy 
Co-Leads: Honghe Wang, Ph.D., Chitra Nayak, Ph.D.

Genetic changes in cancer cells cause common functional changes, which can influence gene expression profiles, tumor microenvironment or immune contexture of the tumors However, many cancer patients do not participate in genetic testing, may be disadvantaged in terms of preventive interventions or participating in research trials that could slow or prevent disease progression. This project will integrate deep learning based histopathological features and cancer multi-omics signatures for improving risk classification and prognosis in pan-cancers with inclusion and representation of patient samples from diverse racial backgrounds and socially disadvantaged communities. This project has the potential to characterize personalized genomic classifiers with implications on the actionable targets in pan-cancers.