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News — Baylor Scott & White Research Institute will establish the Texas site of the, a project of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. Nine healthcare systems plan to enroll 200,000 adults across the U.S.

Katherine Sanchez, Ph.D., LCSW, research investigator and director of diversity and inclusiveness in research at Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, and her team will enroll 25,000 Texans to Connect to better understand causes and prevention of cancer. Participants will be asked to complete online health surveys a few times a year and to donate samples every two to three years. The Connect team will recruit from urban, rural, low-income, and racial and ethnic populations across 46 counties in Texas.

Through Connect, researchers hope to identify factors that could affect cancer risk and other health outcomes. These findings have the potential to influence future public health and cancer prevention guidance.

“We are excited to leverage Baylor Scott & White Health’s resources, clinical experience, and health system structure to address a broad range of questions related to cancer,” said Sanchez. “The long-term potential is to identify social, environmental, behavioral, and genetic factors that underlie cancer risk among Texans. We are uniquely positioned to recruit and enroll diverse populations who reflect the makeup of the state.” 

About Baylor Scott & White Health As the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, Baylor Scott & White promotes the health and well-being of every individual, family and community it serves. It is committed to making quality care more accessible, convenient and affordable through its integrated delivery network, which includes the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and its leading digital health platform – MyBSWHealth. Through 51 hospitals and more than 1,200 access points, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple, the system offers the full continuum of care, from primary to award-winning specialty care. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White today serves more than three million Texans. For more information, visit .