Pediatric Behavioral Informatics to Prevent Cancer

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Julie A. Wright, PhD, a behavior change scientist, is applying for a career development (K07) award in cancer prevention, control, behavioral and population sciences to develop the skills necessary to be an independent investigator in the field of behavioral informatics with a concentration in cancer prevention interventions. Her goal is to develop a specialty in designing behavioral informatics interventions which are delivered in primary care and target behaviors related to energy balance, i.e., healthy diet and regular physical activity. Career Development Plan. The career award will enable Dr. Wright to achieve her goals by advancing her expertise in three areas: 1) primary-care based interventions, 2) informatics, and 3) qualitative research methods. The development plan consists of formal course work, annual scientific meetings, and regular mentoring and consultation with a multidisciplinary mentoring team of leading experts in the three target areas. Research plan. Multiple studies have shown that the risk of some cancers can be reduced by consuming a healthy diet, engaging in regular physical activity, and maintaining a healthy body weight. To help reduce the burden of cancer, multi-level, multi-behavior intervention research is needed. Primary care is one level that can be used to educate and empower parents and their children to develop lifelong healthy habits related to energy-balance. The present study will focus on developing a prototype of a computerized office-based system called TIDE (Tailored Informatics for Diet and Exercise) which will assist pediatricians in promoting energy balance behaviors which are aligned with the expert recommendations, e.g. American Academy of Pediatrics. There are three aims: Aim 1 is to do formative research for the development of a computerized system that can improve the patient-physician experience related to counseling on energy balance behaviors; Aim 2 is to develop a prototype of an office-based system, TIDE, which will be integrated into an existing electronic health records system to deliver tailored print material and facilitate brief counseling by the pediatrician; and Aim 3 is to test the feasibility and acceptability of TIDE. The goal of the research plan is to do the formative work which will lead ultimately to the submission of a R01 research proposal in the area of cancer prevention interventions that target energy-balance related behaviors.