The award on the Posdoct/Fellow category will support research to understand biological differences in Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in Black patients. DLBCL is the most commonly occurring lymphoid cancer subtype in the western world, comprising 1/3 of all lymphomas in adults. DLBCL represents a significant clinical problem for disparities research in that it is a potentially curable cancer, but one that is universally fatal if untreated or improperly treated. For DLBCL patients who are of African ancestry (AA), outcomes are significantly worse: in the US, AA patients were diagnosed on average 10 years younger, more commonly presented with advanced stage disease, and had worse overall survival than their white counterparts. These disparities in lymphoid malignancies sparked our interest in elucidating the role of genetic ancestry in influencing differences among populations. Disparate outcomes in DLBCL can be associated with distinct molecular subgroups. However, all studies focusing on DLBCL classifications have been focused primarily on populations of European descent, with no or minimal representation of AA patients. AA ancestry has been associated with increased inflammation markers, suggesting that the immune environment interacting with the malignant cells could partially explain the poorer prognosis of AA DLBCL patients. The characteristics of this interaction depend primarily on genetic and epigenetic (environmental) traits and secondarily on the genetics of the lymphoma cell. Improved understanding on which mechanisms affect the interaction between immune cells and malignant cells and how they specifically constitute tumors in AA patients is critical to developing better treatment strategies for this cohort.