This Center for Population Health and Health Disparities (CPHHD) is being proposed to address significant gaps in our knowledge about factors that predict prostate cancer outcomes, and in particular the causes of disparity in prostate cancer outcomes between men of African and Caucasian descent. The mission of the proposed center is to 1) study the complex interaction of biological, clinical, behavioral, and environmental factors predictive of outcomes following a prostate cancer diagnosis, 2) evaluate how these factors explain disparities in prostate cancer outcomes by etnicity, and 3) disseminate this information to at-risk populations and the public health community. The CPHHD builds on our existing multidisciplinary research resources that include studies of the genetics, quality of life, patterns of care, physical environment, and social environment after the diagnosis of prostate cancer. This research requires transdisciplinary collaboration across molecular biology, genetic epidemiology, sociology, the behavioral sciences, and health policy. The proposed research has implications for clinical and public health practice, with potential to catalyze critical improvements in the prevention and treatment of prostate cancer. The CPHHD will address the following Specific Aims:
Specific Aim 1 : To undertake four highly interrelated research projects aimed at identifying factors that influence prostate cancer outcomes. These projects will evaluate the role of behavioral and environmental factors associated with physician and patient screening practices, screening behavior and genotypes on prostate cancer clinical outcomes, social and environmental factors on quality of life, and discrimination on treatment and medical outcomes after prostate cancer diagnoses.
Specific Aim 2 : To create three specialized cores to serve the needs of the CPHHD. These include: (1) an Administration Core to oversee and evaluate the CPHHD; (2) a Community Education and Dissemination Core to facilitate ongoing interactions with our community partners, and and to translate the information gained from this research to the public health community and general population; and (3) a Biomedical Informatics Core to provide integrated data management and to construct a comprehensive model of the multivariate biological, behavioral, social, and environmental factors on prostate cancer outcomes.
Specific Aim 3 : To solicit and support a series of focused high priority developmental (pilot) research projects. These projects will be chosen to extend the primary research projects to additional studies of cancer screening, biological interactions, statistical model building for the integration of complex data from various disciplines. The goal of these developmental projects is to expand the scope of the research proposed in the four Projects described here and to enhance the multidisciplinary research team with members representing additional disciplines and expertise.
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