Claudia Davis, an associate professor in the Cal State San Bernardino Department of Nursing has been awarded the 2020 Minority and Minority Serving Institution Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). 

Davis, who joined CSUSB in 2012, received the award during the 2020 AACR Virtual Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, which was held from Oct. 2-4. The AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research.  

“I am deeply honored and thankful that the AACR recognized my scientific contributions, which are relevant to the communities that I serve,” said Davis. “My findings will be more widely known in the scientific literature.”   

According to the AACR website, recipients of the award are scientists who are working at the level of assistant professor or above who are engaged in meritorious basic, clinical, or translational cancer research. The AACR program provides funds for the participation of full-time minority faculty members and faculty members of Minority-Serving Institutions (MSI) at the AACR Annual Meeting and Special Conferences. 

Davis presented her research “The Impact of Socioeconomic Position and the Burden of Chronic Stress on the Quality of Life among Black Breast Cancer Survivors in California,” during the virtual conference.  

This is not the first time Davis has received the award from the AACR. In 2018, she received the honor for her research on African American breast cancer survivors.  

In 2019, Davis received the Health Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Riverside Branch during the local branch’s Annual Freedom Fund Award Celebration. Davis was chosen for the award “based on her academic achievements and the body of research she has conducted to improve the health disparities in minorities, especially among African-American women, and for her work with students.” 

Learn more about the American Association for Cancer Research at its website.

Learn more about the AACR Minority and Minority Serving Institution Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research at its website.