Dr. Glorian Sorensen, PhD, MPH, is Professor of Society, Human Development and Health in the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Director of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's (DFCI) Center for Community-Based Research. The core of her research is randomized worksite- and community-based studies that test the effectiveness of interventions targeting individual and organizational change. Her research focuses particularly on designing and testing interventions to be effective for low-income, multiethnic populations. Since 1986, Dr. Sorensen has been the Principal Investigator on 12 peer-reviewed research grants, including eight NIH-funded R01s and one P01. Since 1992, she has formally mentored 5 doctoral students, seven post-doctoral fellows, and eight junior faculty. Dr. Sorensen is now poised to solidify her research program and expand her mentoring. Her career goal is to make significant contributions to reductions in disparities in cancer risk by social class and race/ethnicity. To accomplish this goal, she has clearly delineated a set of research and mentoring objectives. For research, she aims to conduct rigorous, well-designed studies aimed at: (1) identifying social contextual factors associated with disparities in cancer risk; (2) incorporating an understanding these social contextual factors into intervention design; (3) testing the efficacy of interventions to reduce disparities in risk; and (4) developing and testing effective strategies for disseminating evidence-based interventions. For mentoring, she aims to provide mentoring for new scientists (including junior faculty, post-doctoral fellows, and doctoral students), in order that they will be able to make significant and meaningful contributions to cancer prevention and control, including to the reduction in disparities in cancer risk. In addition, she aims to increase her work with minority junior investigators, with the particular aim of promoting their participation in cancer prevention research for communities of color. This K05 will provide for 50% of Dr. Sorensen's effort, 60% of which will be focused on research and 40% on mentoring. The DFCI, HSPH, and Dana-Farber- Harvard Cancer Center have provided solid institutional support for this application, and will provide protected time for research and mentoring.
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