This K07 Career Development Award application is designed to expand my career development from cancer etiology to cancer prevention and control. The career development plan rests on mentoring directed by experts in cancer prevention research and """"""""protected time"""""""" to foster my professional development as an independent cancer control researcher. While I have training and expertise in epidemiology and biostatistics, it is becoming clear that my career development requires more specific exposure to behavioral research methodologies and behavioral intervention techniques. A unique population, the Agricultural Health Study (AHS) cohort, will be used to examine sun exposure, sun protection behavior, and factors affecting these behaviors regarding the risk of melanoma in private pesticide applicators (farmers) and their spouses. This career development program integrates my statistical and epidemiologic expertise for analyzing existing data in Year 1, with Behavioral Health education to develop my skills in measurement of factors affecting behavior and skills to design and conduct behavioral interventions. In Year 1, I will take courses and spend 2 weeks at the National Cancer Institute learning more about the Agricultural Health Study (AHS) and its measurement of environmental exposures under my co-mentor Dr. Michael Alavanja to guide my analysis of existing baseline data on the cohort related to melanoma. I will then work with my mentor Dr. John Lowe at the University of Iowa during Years 2-5 to expand my survey skills to conducting focus groups, examining behavioral factors, and behavioral attitudes, and develop skills in behavioral interventions. The research plan proposes to examine skin melanoma within this prospective cohort of private applicators (mostly farmers) and their spouses in Iowa and North Carolina (the AHS) in association with environmental factors.
The specific aims are as follows:
Aim 1 is to examine the risk of melanoma in the AHS cohort using various existing measures of sun exposure adjusted for skin sensitivity and sun protection.
Aim 2 is to conduct qualitative research using focus groups to design appropriate measures of sun exposure, sun protection behavior, and factors affecting these behaviors in private applicators and their spouses within the AHS.
Aim 3 is to conduct a nested case-control study of melanoma within the AHS cohort to examine in more detail sun exposure histories and protective behavior.
Aim 4 is to use the results from the cohort and nested case-control studies to design a behavioral intervention.
These aims will lead to the development of a R01 proposal to a) survey the whole AHS cohort about sun exposure, and to b) conduct a behavioral intervention as an independent cancer control researcher.
| Dennis, Leslie K; Lowe, John B (2013) Does artificial UV use prior to spring break protect students from sunburns during spring break? Photodermatol Photoimmunol Photomed 29:140-8 |
| Dennis, Leslie K; Kancherla, Vijaya; Snetselaar, Linda G (2009) Adolescent attitudes towards tanning: does age matter? Ped Health 3:565-578 |
| Dennis, Leslie K; Lowe, John B; Snetselaar, Linda G (2009) Tanning behavior among young frequent tanners is related to attitudes and not lack of knowledge about the dangers. Health Educ J 68:232-243 |
| Dennis, Leslie K; Lowe, John B; Lynch, Charles F et al. (2008) Cutaneous melanoma and obesity in the Agricultural Health Study. Ann Epidemiol 18:214-21 |
