Both obesity and metabolic syndrome – a cluster of conditions like high blood pressure and high blood sugar – increase the risk of breast cancer, but in differing ways for different subtypes of the cancer. A University of Oklahoma researcher helped to lead a national study that produced those results, which may help physicians better care for patients at higher risk for breast cancer.

With a $1.2 million grant to the University of Oklahoma, an OU Health urologic oncologist is leading an innovative new clinical trial for the treatment of prostate cancer when the cancer is beginning to spread beyond the prostate. The trial, offered at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center, will study the combination of two drugs, each of which is already used to treat prostate cancer but has not been evaluated together.

A University of Oklahoma researcher recently received a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to test a newly created mobile app designed to address health disparities among Black men diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Dr. Sixia Chen, associate professor of biostatistics at the Hudson College of Public Health, has been honored with the esteemed American Statistical Association (ASA)/National Science Foundation (NSF)/US Census (CENSUS) senior scholar research fellowship program grant. This grant, totaling approximately $250,000 over two years, is a testament to Dr. Chen's exceptional contributions to the field of Biostatistics and his dedication to bridging the gap between government and academic science.

University of Oklahoma researchers have deepened their understanding of a drug’s ability to prevent fat buildup in the liver, a condition that often occurs with obesity and can lead to serious fatty liver disease. Their findings – which illustrate the complexity of metabolic disorders – are published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer-reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences.