Scientists from throughout the state gathered Wednesday at The Hormel Institute to present projects and work together on furthering cancer prevention research as part of the Minnesota Chemopreventive Consortium.

Dr. Zigang Dong, executive director of The Hormel Institute, hosted the event that brought together researchers from The Hormel Institute, the University of Minnesota’s Masonic Cancer Center in Minneapolis, University of Minnesota’s Southern Research and Outreach Center in Waseca, Mayo Clinic, and Hormel Foods Corp.

A big focus of The Hormel Institute’s research relates to investigating natural compounds or plant-based chemicals found in food that have anti-cancer qualities to help prevent or control cancer.

“Collaborations are key to ensuring progress continues to be made in the fight against cancer,” Dong said. “Research is the only answer to cancer, and, by working together, we will have better answers for preventing and controlling this devastating disease.”

Presentations given at Wednesday’s meeting covered several research projects and a clinical trial as well as shared information on the different aspects of transitioning discoveries from the lab to clinical studies.