Community Networks Program: The Johns Hopkins Center to Reduce Cancer Disparities

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Under the direction of its community partners within Baltimore City and Prince George's County, the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center proposes to formally establish the "Community Networks Program (CNP): The Johns Hopkins Center to Reduce Cancer Disparities." The proposed Center arises from an established community-academic practice partnership that has been active across the two counties, in delivery of cancer screening services, and in research. These predominantly African American counties differ in socio economic status, but both experience disproportionate mortality due to breast, cervix and colorectal cancer. The objective of this proposal is to create an infrastructure to support community-driven research that creates training opportunities for early-stage investigators. We propose the following Specific Aims: 1) To establish an Administrative Core to provide leadership for the Center's overall strategic planning, including scientific leader-ship-and-oversight-on using-the-GBPR approach and its core-principles; 2) To develop a Community- Outreach Program that leverages existing community outreach initiatives targeted to multiethnic underserved populations in Baltimore City and Prince George's County; 3) To implement a Research Program consisting of two projects: a) the Full Research Project, "Evaluating Coaches of Older Adults for Cancer Care and Healthy Behaviors (COACH)", a randomized controlled trial that compares the effectiveness of trained, participant designated coaches vs. professionally-based navigators, in supporting adherence to cancer screening; and b) the Pilot Educational Research Project, a mixed-methods study that examines knowledge, attitudes and willingness of multiethnic older adults to participate in a cancer-related biospecimen repository; 4) To establish a Training Program with the primary goal of increasing the number of qualified health disparity researchers experienced in using CBPR in the context of cancer disparities. The CNP Center at Johns Hopkins will create a sustainable infrastructure for community based participatory research on a large, multiple project, highly collaborative scale, It will increase knowledge of, access to, and utilization of beneficial biomedical and behavioral procedures related to cancer in areas ranging from prevention to early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship.