The proposed collaborative between the Cherokee Nation and the Stephenson Cancer Center has the explicit goal of creating the capacity to address tobacco-related cancer disparities in the Cherokee Nation through a linked program of pilot research and training and education for new investigators and students committed to advancing this work for the Cherokee Nation. We have four specific aims: 1) to develop an infrastructure, including a joint Internal Advisory Committee, capable of shaping multiple research, training, and education efforts between the Cherokee Nation and the Stephenson Cancer Center; 2) to conduct pilot research in tobacco use and cancer risk capable of seeding large-scale research projects at the Cherokee Nation; 3) to train the next generation of cancer researchers for the Cherokee Nation in the context of this research, including new investigators, postdoctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students; 4) to build upon these efforts in order to achieve sustainability for the partnership and its efforts to address tobacco-related cancer disparities. This partnership offers a very real possibility of creating authentic tribal capacity for cancer disparities research through a broad-based program of community engagement, pilot research, and training for students and new investigators who can begin to address the persistent cancer disparities that result from tobacco. It represents an important advance over previously successful efforts at the Cherokee Nation through the integration of these efforts under a clear focus on tobacco and cancer disparities.
[taken from the Khan-led P20 partner application]: The Cherokee Nation/Stephenson Cancer Center Collaborative on Cancer Disparities Overall Specific Aims Cancer disparities continue to impact Oklahoma, and the tribal nations within Oklahoma, disproportionately. Many of these disparities are a direct result of continued use of tobacco. Our Collaborative builds upon tobacco as a shared priority for both the Cherokee Nation and the Stephenson Cancer Center to build a durable partnership between a tribal nation and a university-based matrix cancer center. The express purpose of this partnership is building capacity for cancer disparities research in the tribal nation. As the first (and only) tribal natio to develop a Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Registry, the Cherokee Nation is uniquely qualified to participate in this Collaborative. The Cherokee Nation is additionally distinguished by its strong programs in tobacco control. The Collaborative leverages this context, with new pilot research, to provide a rich training ground for American Indian new investigators and both graduate and undergraduate students with commitments to the Cherokee Nation. The proposed Collaborative has four specific aims: 1) to develop an infrastructure, including a joint Internal Advisory Committee, capable of shaping multiple research, training, and education efforts between the Cherokee Nation and the Stephenson Cancer Center; 2) to conduct pilot research in tobacco use and cancer risk capable of seeding large-scale research projects at the Cherokee Nation; 3) to train the next generation of cancer researchers for the Cherokee Nation in the context of this research, including new investigators, postdoctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students; 4) to build upon these efforts in order to achieve sustainability for the partnership and its efforts to address tobacco-related cancer disparities. Our excitement about this partnership centers on what we see as the very real possibility of creating authentic tribal capacity for cancer disparities research through a broad-based program of pilot research, which forms the context in which both students and new investigators can begin to address the persistent cancer disparities that result from tobacco.
| Comiford, Ashley L; Rhoades, Dorothy A; Spicer, Paul et al. (2018) E-cigarettes and Tobacco Exposure Biomarkers among American Indian Smokers. Am J Health Behav 42:101-109 |
