WWU's Victor Chan awarded grant to study Whatcom County's high melanoma rates

Victor Chan, Western Washington University associate professor of Mathematics, has been awarded a $3,500 grant from the PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center Foundation to fund a research project that investigates the problem of elevated rates of melanoma incidence for Whatcom County.

Melanoma is a particularly dangerous type of skin cancer, and for more than a decade, Whatcom County’s melanoma incidence rates invariably exceed the national and state averages, consistently ranking in the top 25 percent of Washington counties.

“We hope to be able to identify the underlying cause of our county’s high incidence rates of melanoma,” Chan said. “If successful, our findings may provide useful information to professionals in terms of cancer control and prevention.”

The research group consists of Chan, assistant professor of Mathematics Amy Anderson, and Western students David Whitney of Richland and Mike Switzer of Bellevue. The research began last fall and is expected to be completed by the end of summer, Chan said. The research group is also working in close collaboration with Dr. Ian Thompson and Shelly Smit of the Cancer Center at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center, Chan said.

“We also view the project as an opportunity for us as faculty and students at Western to contribute to the health and well-being of the Whatcom community,” he said.

For more information, contact Victor Chan at (360) 650-7260.