The Section for Health Equity in NYU Langone’s Division of Health and Behavior offers a Cancer Research Track in which our experts investigate ways to ensure that at-risk and minority populations receive the care they need.

New York City Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network

The New York City Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (NYC CPCRN) is a special interest project led by Chau Trinh-Shevrin, DrPH, through the NYU-CUNY Prevention Research Center.

The NYC CPCRN is implementing several research projects. These include mental health formative research to address the psychological needs of Asian American patients with cancer and survivors in collaboration with colleagues at CUNY, Victoria Ngo, PhD, and Terry Huang, PhD, MPH; the identification of factors influencing the implementation of prevention guidelines for infection-related cancers among Asian Americans; and the continued efforts of national collaborative network workgroups to address cancer and health equity, among other topics.

The Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (CPCRN) is a national network of academic, public health, and community partners who work together to reduce the burden of cancer, especially among those disproportionately affected. Its members conduct community-based participatory cancer research across its eight network centers, crossing academic affiliations and geographic boundaries. The CPCRN is a Thematic Research Network of the Prevention Research Centers, which are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) flagship program for preventing and controlling chronic diseases.

This content is a product of a Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research Center supported by Cooperative Agreement Number U48 DP006396 from the CDC. The findings and conclusions on this website are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position of the CDC.

Patient-Centered Stomach Cancer Prevention in Chinese Americans

Simona C. Kwon, DrPH, MPH, is leading a two-arm, randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy, adoption, and impact of an integrated intervention to improve adherence to recommended stomach cancer prevention guidelines of testing for and treating Helicobacter pylori infection in at-risk Chinese Americans in New York City. The primary outcome is H. pylori eradication, while the secondary outcomes are medication adherence, self-efficacy, and health literacy, among other factors.

The integrated intervention consists of a health systems–level intervention using electronic health record–based tools to facilitate H. pylori test-and-treat strategies; and a collaboratively developed and culturally and linguistically adapted community healthcare worker–led patient navigation prevention and treatment program.

Dr. Kwon and her research team plan to enroll 144 Chinese American patients across safety net hospital endoscopy and family health clinics in New York City, including NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn, Seventh Avenue Family Health Center at NYU Langone, NYU Langone Ambulatory Care Bay Ridge, NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, and NYC Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur.

In addition, the feasibility, acceptability, adoption, sustainability, and scalability of the electronic health record and community health worker strategy will be assessed through utilization patterns through extracted electronic health records files. Other components of the study are qualitative key informant interviews with key providers, administrators, and community health workers at baseline and follow-up and an observational review of site workflow, use of electronic health worker tools, and organizational barriers and facilitators.

Publication

Kwon SC … Trinh-Shevrin C. Development and assessment of a Helicobacter pylori medication adherence and stomach cancer prevention curriculum for a Chinese American immigrant population. J Cancer Educ. 2019. DOI.

Stamp Out Cancer Brooklyn

Stamp Out Cancer Brooklyn (SOCB) is a community-based initiative that focuses on cancer prevention and reducing gaps in receiving cancer care in Brooklyn. Led by Perlmutter Cancer Center, as part of its Community Outreach and Engagement Core, and in partnership with the Family Health Centers at NYU Langone and the Department of Population Health, the project engages trusted community stakeholders with the goal of developing evidence-based solutions for cancer prevention, early detection, treatment, and survivorship.

Focus on Obesity Reduction and Tools in Immigrant Families and Youth

Related to SOCB, Stella S. Yi, MPH, PhD, is leading a project called Focus on Obesity Reduction and Tools in Immigrant Families and Youth (FORTIFY), which aims to examine best practices in community partner and stakeholder engagement utilizing implementation science and systems science methods. FORTIFY involves a retrospective examination of six prior community engaged projects as well as group model building activities. The activities of FORTIFY, which is in part focused on Chinese and Mexican American communities in Brooklyn, are aligned with another group model building project, Systems to Understand Nutrition, Diet, and Active Living Opportunities in Adults 50+ Years (SUNDIAL). This study is a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded supplement through NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center.

Development and Implementation of Strategies to Raise Awareness of Lung Cancer Screening Among Chinese American Communities

Dr. Kwon is leading a project to raise awareness and provide education and outreach on lung cancer screening targeted to the Chinese American population. This project applies community-based participatory research and social marketing principles to tailor and create lung cancer screening education materials and to build a culturally and linguistically tailored outreach and education campaign to raise awareness on lung cancer risk factors and lung cancer screening guidelines. This project also enhances and promotes linkages to community-based resources for sustainable education and outreach efforts and leverages existing networks of regional and national partners to maximize reach to disseminate the materials and campaign to Chinese American communities across the United States. A grant from the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation funds this project.

For more information, please contact Yi-Ling Tan, MPH, program manager, at yi-ling.tan@nyulangone.org.

Vaccine Acceptance in Immigrant Youth and Adolescents Study

The purpose of the Vaccine Acceptance in Immigrant Youth and Adolescents (VAIYA) Study, led by Dr. Kwon, is to apply health communications and community-based participatory research approaches with an implementation science framework to identify the multilevel system of factors contributing to human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine hesitancy in limited-English-proficient communities in southwest Brooklyn. Specifically, the project focuses on Mexican and Arab American communities. The project goal is to identify opportunities to improve HPV vaccine uptake and series completion in these under-reached and underserved populations. This proposal builds on more than 12 years of community-based participatory research on vaccine-preventable diseases and infection-related cancers among minority immigrant communities in New York City. VAIYA is a NCI-funded supplement through NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center.