PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Destiny Flanagan can’t wait for her birthday so she can be eligible to become one of 100,000 Voices of Black Women.

“I’m just a month shy of turning 25, but I have already enrolled to make sure that I’m on that list,” Flanagan said.

The American Cancer Society’s study, ‘Voices Of Black Women,’ is the largest ever to look at environmental and lifestyle risk factors for all types of cancer among Black women in the United States.

“This study is important because we know and understand that for too long, Black women have suffered disproportionately from aggressive cancers, and also some of the lowest cancer survivorship rates across race and ethnic groups,” said Dr. Lauren McCullough, co-principal investigator for ACS Voices Of Black Women.

Black women, for instance, are 40% more likely to die from breast cancer than White women.

“I just hope women feel like, yes, finally someone is acknowledging that this experience that has really been ignored is important for me,” McCullough said.

The study is seeking Black women between the ages of 25 and 55, from all walks of life, who have not been diagnosed with cancer.

Participation is all online. Participants will answer an initial survey about their health history, lifestyle and environment. Then, you will be contacted twice per year to complete 30-minute surveys.

Flanagan sees it as time well-invested.

“I don’t currently have children, but I do have plans to have a family one day,” Flanagan said. “I think that it’s really important because I think that it’s important for us to understand that a lot of the things that we do today are not just for our own individual gain, right? They’re for the gain and the benefit of our future generations and our legacies as people who we may not even know yet.”

The American Cancer Society plans to follow study participants over the next three decades. If you’re interested in signing up or learning more, click here.