Strong ties have developed between investigators at Columbia University's Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) and Long Island University's Brooklyn campus (LIU) over the past four years. Several joint grants and projects have resulted, totaling over $2 million, with two proposals pending. Anchoring this collaboration has been a P20 from NCI (CA91372). These research efforts have focused on differences among African Caribbean immigrant populations in Brooklyn and North Manhattan (including Dominican, Haitian, and English-speaking Caribbean) and US-born African American and European American. The research includes behavioral, cultural, lifestyle, and biological/genetic differences that may relate to cancer-related health disparities. In this application, we propose to build upon the existing partnership and use it as a platform for a broader, more comprehensive study of the same issues. This partnership would meld the two institutions, with an emphasis on bringing together their complementary strengths. The PI at LIU is a well-known psychologist with extensive behavioral and survey research experience with these populations in Brooklyn. The PI at Columbia is a medical oncologist and epidemiologist with a strong record in cancer prevention and control research and a leadership position in the HICCC. HICCC will provide access to its core facilities, especially the Biostatistics Core, while LIU will provide its expertise in survey and behavioral research. The proximity of the two institutions will permit frequent seminars and workshops attended by individuals from both centers, as well as an annual retreat at each center. Students and faculty at each will also have access to courses and lectures at each of the institutions. Equally important will be programs designed to provide experience for minority students and faculty in cancer research, with the opportunity for students from LIU to obtain admissions and fellowships to Columbia programs, illustrated by a minority predoc from LIU who will have a R25 postdoc at Columbia. Two projects and four pilots are proposed in year 1, with a prominent external advisory committee to meet annually to review the progress of the U54 program. There will be an annual competition for funding for the following year; proposals will be reviewed by external reviewers, as was successfully conducted in our P20. Ongoing/proposed projects/pilots will be discussed at a monthly workshop alternating between campuses at which statisticians, data management, and methodologists will attend to provide constructive discussion. A representative from the University of West Indies (UWI) will attend annual EAB meetings and, via videoconference, quarterly internal steering committee meetings with long-term possibilities for dual site (Brooklyn/Caribbean) projects. This partnership has a unique study population, a successful existing relationship, and an emphasis on population science research.
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