JAMAICA – The Jamaica Cancer Care and Research Institute (JACCRI), the Harvard/MGHCenter on Genomics, Vulnerable Populations, and Health Disparities, and The University of the West Indies West Indies (UWI) are proud to publicly launch the H3ECaribbean (Human Heredity, Environment, and Health in the Caribbean) initiative on April 8, 2021 from Jamaica and via Zoom, along with leading genomics researchers, clinicians, and social scientists from six different countries.

Selected by the Committee of Deans of The UWI’s Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMS) as their signature initiative to celebrate “One UWI” across all medical school campuses, H3ECaribbean aims to build the health research infrastructure needed to investigate genomic, environmental, and social influences on the etiology of chronic diseases in the region and ensure inclusion of persons from the Caribbean in cutting-edge global health research.

Deans Tomlin Paul (UWI Faculty of Medical Sciences [FMS], Mona), Peter Adams (UWI FMS, Cave Hill, Barbados) and Terence Seemungal (UWI FMS, St. Augustine, Trinidad), and Director of The UWI’s School of Clinical Medicine and Research, Bahamas, Dr. Robin Roberts are all members of the H3ECaribbean Steering Committee.

Modeled after the successful H3Africa (Human Heredity and Health in Africa) program envisioned by Dr. Charles Rotimi, Director of the NIH Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, H3ECaribbean will advocate for a substantial investment in the health research infrastructure needed to participate in international genomics studies; e.g., biobanks, electronic health records, longitudinal epidemiological data, and cancer registries. Dr. Rotimi and Dr. Ambroise Wonkum, a principal investigator with H3Africa from South Africa, will share the challenges they experienced and their strategies for overcoming them.

The overall initiative is being led by Dr. Tomlin Paul, Dean of the UWI FMS, Mona, and Dr. Alexandra Shields, Hon. Professor of Medicine at UWI, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Director of the Harvard/MGH Center on Genomics, Vulnerable Populations and Health Disparities. Dr. Shields is also one of the three women who founded the Jamaica Cancer Care and Research Institute (JACCRI), which initiated the H3ECaribbean initiative.

“Through H3ECaribbean, we will create incredible global research opportunities for our faculty, students, and trainees throughout the region,” commented Dr. Tomlin Paul, Dean, FMS, UWI, Mona, Jamaica, “matched by the kind of training and faculty development that will allow Caribbean investigators to participate in global genomics and health research as equal partners with our colleagues in the US and Europe.”

“With respect to cancer, for example, people across the small island nations of the Caribbean may have unique environmental influences that lead them to have different mutations driving the growth of cancers in the Caribbean than the white middle-class Americans who currently comprise the vast majority of the discovery data sets used to develop novel therapies,” said Alexandra E. Shields, PhD, Director, Harvard/MGH Center on Genomics, Vulnerable Populations, and Health Disparities and co-founder of JACCRI. “Inclusion in the discovery data sets used to develop novel therapies is ultimately about social justice. We need to ensure that persons in the Caribbean benefit equitably from advances in global genomics and global genomics research.”

Cancer now accounts for more than 20% of all deaths in the Caribbean and this rate is increasing. According to a recent paper review in Lancet Oncology by researchers from the Jamaica Cancer Care and Research Institute (JACCRI), cancer cases are expected to rise by nearly 70% over the next ten years.

About Jamaica Cancer Care and Research Institute

The Jamaica Cancer Care and Research Institute (JACCRI) is an NGO committed to reducing the burden of cancer and improving treatment outcomes in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean. Headquartered at The University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica, JACCRI is uniquely positioned to lead the regional effort underway to develop the necessary research infrastructure that would allow people from the Caribbean to be included in international studies developing novel treatments for disease and cancer. JACCRI was co-founded in 2017 by Dr. Dingle Spence (a leading clinical oncologist and palliative care physician who runs The Hope Institute Hospital, Jamaica’s only specialist oncology hospital), Dr. Jennifer Alexander (pathologist, and founder of Surgipath Diagnostics), and Dr. Alexandra E. Shields (Director, Havard/MGH Center on Genomics, Vulnerable Populations and Health Disparities at Mass. General Hospital; Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School; Honorary Professor, Faculty of Medical Sciences, UWI, Kingston, Jamaica; and Associate Member of the Broad Institute).

About The University of the West Indies (UWI)

The UWI has been and continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development; residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region. From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and its Open Campus, and 10 global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe.

The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the Caribbean’s leading university, it possesses the largest pool of Caribbean intellect and expertise committed to confronting the critical issues of our region and wider world.

Ranked among the top universities in the world, by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education, The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists. In 2020, it earned ‘Triple 1st’ rankings—topping the Caribbean; and in the top in the tables for Latin America and the Caribbean, and global Golden Age universities (between 50 and 80 years old). The UWI is also featured among the top universities on THE’s Impact Rankings for its response to the world’s biggest concerns, outlined in the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Good Health and Wellbeing; Gender Equality and Climate Action.

Media Contact
Company Name: Jamaica Cancer Care and Research Institute & The University of the West Indies
Contact Person: Alexandra Shields
Email: Send Email
Phone: 215.287.7291
Address:50 Staniford Street, Suite 802
City: Boston
State: MA
Country: United States
Website: https://www.jaccri.org/