SAMBAI’s Bold Mission: Tackling Cancer Inequities

Team SAMBAI, co-led by Dr. Sheeba Irshad from King’s College London, has been awarded major funding through Cancer Grand Challenges to address one of cancer research’s most urgent frontiers—equity. SAMBAI will launch a pioneering Biobank and Data Repository focused on breast, prostate, and pancreatic cancers in people of African descent. By investigating social, environmental, genetic, and immunological factors, the team aims to uncover why certain populations face higher cancer mortality rates.

“There’s growing recognition of how ancestry and environmental exposures shape tumor biology,” says Dr. Irshad. “Yet our understanding remains incomplete. This is a rare opportunity to create real change and reduce ethnic disparities in cancer outcomes.”

Through global collaboration and inclusive data collection, SAMBAI is set to become a transformative force in cancer equity research.