LUNGevity Promotes Dr. Upal Basu Roy to Vice President of Research

WASHINGTON, June 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- LUNGevity Foundation, the nation's leading lung cancer-focused nonprofit organization, announced today that Upal Basu Roy, PhD, MPH, has been promoted to Vice President of Research.  

In his new role, Dr. Basu Roy will be responsible for setting the strategy and overseeing LUNGevity's scientific research awards programs, including the Translational Research program, the Career Development Award program, and research funded through the ALK Positive partnership, and also for LUNGevity's Patient Focused Research Center – Patient FoRCe.

The Foundation's research program accelerates scientific progress to patients by funding high-impact research into early detection and therapeutics and breaking down silos to foster collaborations among academic researchers, clinicians, survivors and industry partners.  The program has an impressive track record of improving outcomes and lives; for every $1 LUNGevity invests in research, scientists are able to garner an additional $12 of funding to continue their investigations. Dr. Basu Roy will ensure the Foundation continues to invest in impactful scientific research to accelerate progress in treatment and early detection.

Under Dr. Basu Roy's guidance, LUNGevity launched the Patient-Focused Research Center (Patient FoRCe) in 2017, which conducts qualitative and quantitative studies on patients' unmet needs, values, and preferences.  Currently, Upal is managing several multi-year, patient-focused research projects in Patient FoRCE, including Project ACTs, a study with University of Kentucky and Moffitt Cancer Center to identify barriers to adherence to lung cancer screening and developing shared-decision aids; Project Transform, a patient preference study with Johns Hopkins and Ohio State University; and Project PRIORITY, a study with the EGFR Resisters patient group to uncover the treatment experience of EGFR-positive lung cancer patients.

Dr. Basu Roy is also responsible for managing LUNGevity's extensive educational library, which includes both print and online resources.

"We are thrilled that Upal will be taking on this new role," Andrea Ferris, president and CEO of the Foundation, says. "Upal brings the rigor of the bench scientist as well as experience in community-based participatory research to LUNGevity's research programs. Further, Upal has worked directly with patient groups and has focused in the past on minority populations, which is a programmatic focus for the Foundation. We are excited to see the great advances LUNGevity's research program can make under Upal's leadership."

Dr. Basu Roy has extensive experience in community-based participatory research (CBPR) methodology in health sciences research, specifically in projects involving immigrants and minority populations. His experience ranges from working with diabetes education for Asian immigrants in New York City to educating minority populations about breast cancer screening in Queens, NY.

Dr. Basu Roy has a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Arizona and an MPH in Global Health Policy and Management from New York University.

About LUNGevity Foundation

LUNGevity is the nation's leading lung cancer organization investing in lifesaving, translational research and providing support services and education for patients and caregivers. LUNGevity's goals are three-fold: (1) accelerate research to patients, (2) empower patients to be active participants in their treatment decisions, and (3) remove barriers that patients face in accessing the right treatments.

LUNGevity Foundation is firmly committed to making an immediate impact on increasing quality of life and survivorship of people with lung cancer by accelerating research into early detection and more effective treatments, as well as by providing community, support, and education for all those affected by the disease. LUNGevity's comprehensive resources include a medically vetted website, a toll-free HELPLine in partnership with CancerCare®, a unique Lung Cancer Navigator app, peer-to-peer mentoring for patients and caregivers (LUNGevity LifeLine), and survivorship conferences. LUNGevity also helps patients find and navigate clinical trials through our Clinical Trial Finder tool, a Clinical Trial Ambassador program, and participation with EmergingMed.

Our vision is a world where no one dies of lung cancer. For more information about LUNGevity Foundation, a four-star Charity Navigator organization, please visit www.LUNGevity.org.

About Lung Cancer in the U.S.

• About 1 in 16 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime
• More than 228,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year
• About 60%-65% of all new lung cancer diagnoses are among people who have never smoked or are former smokers
• Lung cancer takes more lives than the next three leading cancers (colorectal, breast, and prostate) combined
• Only 19% of all people diagnosed with lung cancer will survive 5 years or more, BUT if it's caught before it spreads, the chance of 5-year survival improves dramatically

SOURCE LUNGevity Foundation