Tar Heel: NCCU scientist Ricardo Richardson searching for connections between race and cancer

As a child in Haiti, Ricardo Richardson was fascinated with the stories his teacher would share about the world of ideas, from global politics to art to science. One story in particular – on how the discovery of penicillin saved so many lives – piqued his interest in medical research.

Richardson credits that teacher with helping to ensure that he, unlike many of his peers, went on to college, and in the ensuing years, his passion to cure disease turned his attention to cancer.

Now a seasoned researcher, Richardson directs the cancer research program at N.C. Central University, which this week was awarded a $6 million grant to explore differences in the way cancer affects African-Americans and other minorities. The research, part of an ongoing partnership with UNC-Chapel Hill, is helping to answer key questions about race and cancer, as well as develop ways to better educate and treat minority patients.

Certain types of cancer, such as triple-negative breast cancer, occur more frequently in African-Americans than in other populations. Others, such as prostate cancer, might not occur more often, but result in death at higher rates.

Part of this disparity likely stems from factors such as education and income levels as well as access to health care, Richardson says, and part of the research program involves testing new ways to share health information with African-American communities, such as a program to pass on prostate cancer information in barber shops.

But genetics is another part of the picture, and researchers are tackling the problems from both directions.

“We focus on disparities that are population-based, but also at the molecular level,” Richardson says.

Ralph Snyderman, the former longtime Duke University chancellor, brought Richardson to the Triangle in the 1990s to work in his Duke research lab, and has been impressed with both his research acumen and his desire to help others.

“This is an extremely important area of research, and I think Ricardo brings to it tremendous persistence and a real passion to help under-served populations,” Snyderman says. “He has a sharp mind for research and is incredibly dedicated.”

Making the most of opportunity

Richardson grew up in a small village in western Haiti, where he attended Catholic schools. One of his teachers, a priest with a wide-ranging intellectual bent, saw promise in him, and encouraged him to pursue higher education.

With help from his teachers and family, he was able to attend college in Spain – a luxury many of his classmates didn’t have.

“I went to school with a lot of intelligent people, but I got more opportunities than they did,” he says. “Some of them might have been Nobel laureates but they never got past elementary school.”

Among the topics his teacher would discuss was medicine, and Richardson took a particular interest in microbiology after learning about the discovery of penicillin, and the impact it had in eradicating a host of diseases.

Richardson spend a decade in Spain, mostly in Barcelona, where he earned bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees in a program where he was one of the few black students. Far from facing discrimination, though, he says the novelty of his dark skin and thick Haitian accent made him well-known among his classmates, who were eager to help him with his Spanish and share their culture.

“I was like a celebrity,” he says.

He became interested in cancer research, and soon sought out research jobs in the United States, working first at Northwestern University and later at Duke, where his attention was drawn to understanding chemokines, chemical messengers that alert immune cells to respond to infections or injuries. Malfunctions in these cells have been linked to a number of diseases, including cancer.

Working with Snyderman at Duke, Richardson was successful in charting the mechanisms these immune cells use to respond to infection or disease. In one case, he identified the biochemical signals that trigger inflammation – a key factor in developing diseases.

“He played a critical role in defining the ways that these immune cells – that we now know are so important to understanding cancer –work,” Snyderman says.

Snyderman says Richardson also had a lighter side; he recalls that when he would run around town, he would sometimes see Richardson on the soccer field, kicking a ball around with children from various neighborhoods.

After a brief stint at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Richardson was happy to return to Durham as a professor at N.C. Central in 2004, where he took the job of leading the university’s cancer research efforts.

“I am here to build this program, to bring it to the next step,” he says.

Thinking to the future

Launched in 1998, N.C. Central’s Julius L. Chambers Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute aims to focus its research efforts on conditions that disproportionately affect minority populations, and its cancer research program is one component of that initiative.

The National Cancer Institute funding announced last week extends a grant that represents a 14-year partnership between N.C. Central and UNC, allowing each to maximize its resources and expertise. Over the years, the project has grown in scope and in funding. One new project will evaluate new ways to screen for cervical cancer.

Another area of research included in the grant is finding effective ways to educate African-Americans on cancer prevention, including innovative outreach efforts. Richardson says one of the key accomplishments of the program is to create a pipeline of researchers interested in these disparities who will go on to continue that research at other institutions.

“A lot of our students graduate from the program and go on to study public health,” says Richardson. “The training component is a big part.”

Richardson oversees all of these studies, while continuing to conduct his own separate research focused on chemokines, a related topic that he explores using separate funding sources. In 2012, Richardson was one of five N.C. Central faculty members honored for their working in bringing in external research funding. He credits his research team for their success.

“It’s easy to lead a team of leaders,” he says.

He plans to stay at Central as long as possible, though he does have plans for another chapter of his life after retirement – a return to his village in Haiti. He continues to marvel at his own life trajectory, when in his home country so many children live in poverty with little encouragement to forge a different path.

He hopes to return to his old school, either to work there or as a volunteer, so that he can inspire more young people to pursue their dreams through education.

“I feel that I owe them that,” he says. “Someone was there to tell me that, and made such a difference.”

To nominate someone for Tar Heel of the Week, please send an email to tarheel@newsobserver.com

This story was originally published October 31, 2015 at 2:38 PM with the headline "Tar Heel: NCCU scientist Ricardo Richardson searching for connections between race and cancer."