The overall goal of this proposal is to leverage existing and new partnerships and infrastructure to develop a unified, country-wide, population- and clinic-based Regional Center for Research Excellence (RCRE) dedicated to the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in India. Over the past five years, our team has initiated four population-based cohorts/interventions that serve as well-phenotyped, bio- banked, geographic information systems (GIS)-linked sources of prospective data on NCD risk factors and outcomes. We propose to develop a unified nationwide NCD research grid by linking these population-based cohorts to the existing network of cancer registries/institutes and clinical centers. The present 2-year project will focus on New Delhi (National Capital Territory) in the north and Chennai (Tamil Nadu State) in the south to build on our longitudinal Center for Cardiometabolic Risk Reduction in South Asia (CARRS) Surveillance Study and linkable population-based cancer registries/institutes located in these two cities. Within the Planning Unit of this application we will develop cancer research infrastructure for the RCRE by augmenting the CARRS cohort data with information on cancer cases obtained from the New Delhi and Chennai Cancer registries. We will establish and begin using three shared cores to support current and future RCRE projects: 1) a Biorepository and Laboratory Capacity Building Core (?Bio Core?) to support bio-specimen procurement, record-keeping, processing, and biomarker analysis; 2) a Data Management and Analytics Core (?Data Core?) to facilitate data linkages between cohort, registry, and clinical sites and offer database development and maintenance and analysis services; and 3) a Field Research Methodology Core (?Field Core?) to provide access to multi-disciplinary data collection methods and tools. We will also perform training needs assessment and implement training programs that will include in-person and virtually mentored research opportunities to pre- and post-doctoral scientists; and hands-on training to research personnel such as staff of registries/institutes and field interviewers. To utilize the research infrastructure, to test the three cores and to offer research-based practical experience to our trainees we will conduct three demonstration projects. In the first project we will develop and validate a standardized protocol to link the New Delhi and Chennai CARRS cohorts with the corresponding cancer registries. The second project will be a mixed methods study describing the prevalence and correlates of cancer-related perceived stigma; and investigating cancer- and diabetes- related knowledge and psychosocial barriers to diagnosis and treatment. The third project will be an investigation of molecular features and underlying pathways of the association between diabetes and oral neoplasia in CARRS Oral Health sub-study.
