Two universities in Arizona are sharing a $13 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to help people in Native American populations who are dying of cancer.
The Intercultural Cancer Council says cancer is the third leading cause of death among Native Americans, although there is not enough evidence to determine why yet.
Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona Cancer Center are joined together under the Parnership for Native American Canter Prevention (NACP), which is the organization receiving the $13 million grant, reports AZ Central.
NACP has been working since 2002 studying why cancer is affecting Native Americans at such high rates, reports AZ Central. They also encourage Native American college students in science fields to join them in their efforts to push the research forward.
Some of the Native American students working with NACP were personally affected by cancer.
"My family is from Cameron (Ariz.) and I know there is a huge uranium deposit over there," Paddock said. "And it's actually affected my grandmother and (she) got breast cancer," Navajo Nation tells AZ Central.
Multiple Native American cancer patients' conditions are attributed to uranium exposure, a mining industry that boomed on the Navajo Reservation during the 1950s, reports AZ Central. The uranium is still contaminating drinking water and communities surrounding the abandoned mines today.
