# Presentation: 261447

## Collaborative Planning of the San Diego State UniversityUCSD Moores Cancer CenterPartnership

- <date/time>

- Collaborative Planning of the San Diego State UniversityUCSD Moores Cancer CenterPartnership

**Principal Investigators**:  Elizabeth A. Klonoff (SDSU)
- Ana M. Navarro (UCSD)
**Co-Investigators**:
- Hope Landrine (SDSU)
- Gordon Gill (UCSD)

## Background

- Funded by the Comprehensive Minority Biomedical Branch, NCI, grant # CA92081 under U56 mechanism as of July 2002 for a five year planning process.
- Builds on existing SDSU-UCSD Joint Doctoral Programs in Clinical Psychology and Biology.

## Goals of the Partnership

- Advance cancer research that is relevant to medically underserved, ethnic communities.
- Educate and train promising minority scientists in cancer research.
- Increase the number of faculty, scientists, and students engaged in culturally relevant cancer research and community outreach and education.

## Organizational Structure

- Executive Committee:
- Principal Investigators
- Program Manager
- Program Assistant

- Local Advisory
- Committee

- Program Steering
- Committee

## Local Advisory Committee

**Lawrence**** ****Alfred, PhD**
- College of Sciences, SDSU
**Sanford**** ****Bernstein, PhD**
- Department of Biology, SDSU
**Ira Goodman**
- Cancer Center, UCSD
** **
**Melbourne**** ****Hovell, PhD**
- School of Public Health, SDSU
**Tim Johnston, PhD**
- Office of Graduate Studies and Research, UCSD

**Skaidite**** ****Krisans, PhD**
- Department of Biology, SDSU
**Hope Landrine, PhD**
- Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, SDSU
**Vanessa Malcarne, PhD**
- Department of Psychology, SDSU
**Frank Pardo, MD**
- Department of Medicine, UCSD
**Georgia Sadler, PhD**
- Department of Surgery, UCSD

## Program Steering Committee

**Robert G. Robinson, DrPH, Chair**Office of Smoking and Health, NCCDPHP, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
**H. Nelson Aguila, DVM**Comprehensive Minority Biomedical Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
**Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, PhD, MPH**Institute for Prevention Research, University of Southern California
**F. Allen Hubbell, MD**Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine
**Juanita Merchant, MD, PhD**Department of Internal Medicine and Physiology, University of Michigan
**Roberto Villarreal, MD, MPH**University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio

## Promoting Inter-Institutional Collaboration

- Matching faculty with similar interests or potential for collaboration.
- Matching students with faculty mentors at sister institution.
- Hosting networking events.
- Addressing institutional barriers (i.e., IRB).
- Funding collaborative pilot projects.
- Developing the Cancer and Minorities Research Resource.

## Developmental Funds

- Collaborative pilot projects
- Graduate students’ projects
- Cancer and Minorities Research Resource
- Developing appropriate measures of ethnicity
- Development of proposal for post-doctoral training program focused on disparities in cancer

## Developing a Culturally Sensitive ProblemSolving Therapy Intervention for Fatigue inAfrican American Cancer Survivors

- SDSU PI: Vanessa Malcarne, PhD
- UCSD PI:  Georgia Sadler, PhD
- 	Use qualitative and quantitative data on fatigue in African-American cancer survivors to develop culturally appropriate problem solving therapy intervention.

## Improving the Validity of Self-Reported Dietary Behaviors

- SDSU PI: Georg Matt, PhD
- UCSD PI: Cheryl Rock, PhD
- 	Interviews and focus groups with African-Americans, Latinos (Spanish and English speaking), and Whites to compare validity of self-reported dietary behaviors and eating patterns.

## Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer inLatinas: A translational approach

- SDSU PI: Sanford Bernstein, PhD
- UCSD PI: Francisco Pardo, MD
- 	Using gene array technology, investigate potential genetic determinants of cervical cancer tumor progression among Latinas with locally advanced cervical cancer.

## Partnership Funded Student Projects

- Protective Effects of Macrophage Specific Paraoxonase1 Expression – Alejandra Guitierrez, Masters Student in Biology
- Cancer Screening Practices of Filipino Americans - Celine Ko, Doctoral Student in Clinical Psychology
- Characterization and Inhibition of Tyrosyl-DNA Phosphodiesterase 1 – Amy Raymond, Doctoral Student in Biology

## F31 Student Grant Applications

- NCI
- Risk Factors for Minority Cancer Development, Norval Hickman – Funded
- The Effects of Healing Environments on Pediatric Cancer Survival, Sandra Sherman – Resubmitted
- Risk Factors for Cancer Development in Minority Women, Irma Corral – Submitted
- NIMH
- 1 funded, 1 submitted this round

## Cancer and Minorities Research Resource

- The goal is to provide technical assistance to
- faculty, students, and other investigators doing projects
- related to cancer among under-represented ethnic
- groups, including:
- Consultation on culturally appropriate study design, methods and analysis
- Recruitment and outreach to under-represented ethnic groups
- Adaptation and translation of research related documents

## Program Evaluation

- Annual Progress Report from PSC to NCI.
- Bi-Annual Progress Reports to LAC
- Tracking of research and program activities relevant to cancer and ethnic minorities in partner institutions
- Faculty Survey
- Faculty mentor-student data base.
- Cancer Center reports
- Faculty recruitment
- Quarterly and annual progress reports from Pilot Projects and follow-up.
- Tracking activities in the development of the Cancer and Minority Cancer Resource.

## Future Pilot Project Funding

**Future funding will be incorporated into Cancer**
**Center’s seed funding process using the following**
**additional criteria:**
- Includes at least one PI from each institution and represents exemplary inter-institutional collaboration
- Focuses on an issue related to minorities and cancer
- Active participation of a researcher who is a member of an underrepresented group
- Funds of $50,000/year total for 6-24 months

## Year 1 Accomplishments

- Establishment of infrastructure for the Administrative, Planning/Evaluation and Developmental Cores.
- Completed needs assessment of faculty at partner institutions.
- Collected baseline data on the current amount and types of research and training.
- Designed database of faculty and students in order to track and to match them in cancer research and training opportunities.

## Challenges

- Providing opportunities for faculty at both institutions to network and meet potential collaborators that are useful and appealing given preexisting responsibilities.
- Facilitating collaborations of investigators with different expertise and work styles.
- Promoting high quality standards for inclusion of diverse ethnic/racial communities in cancer research among well established investigators.
- Participation of basic scientists in research related to racial/ethnic disparities in cancer.
- Changes in the leadership at partner institutions.

## Future Directions and Plans

- Build on the infrastructure developed
- Developmental funds continue to
- Fund additional collaborative pilot projects.
- Increase training opportunities for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows interested in cancer research.
- Develop the Minorities and Cancer services Resource.
- Forge institutional ties with partner institutions