Summary
Cancer health disparities are differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and burden of cancer and related adverse health conditions that exist among specific population groups in the United States. These population groups may be characterized by gender, age, ethnicity, education, income, social class, disability, geographic location, or sexual orientation.
The Behavioral Research Program (BRP) is one of five programs within the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS). The program initiates, supports and evaluates a comprehensive program of behavioral research ranging from basic and behavioral research to research on the development, testing and dissemination of disease prevention and health promotion interventions in areas such as tobacco use, screening, dietary behavior and sun protection. The goal of the BRP is to increase the breadth, depth and quality of cancer prevention and control through the application and development of behavioral science. In 2001, the Behavior, Disparities and Research on Cancer (BeDRoC) Group was created to promote and coordinate health disparities-related science in the Behavioral Research Program. The group is comprised of members from each of the BRP branches and is chaired by a Health Disparities Research Coordinator.
Mission
The mission of the BeDRoC Group is to support the goal of eliminating cancer health disparities through the exchange of information and ideas in the Behavioral Research Program in collaboration with the Office of Cancer Survivorship (OCS). The ultimate goal of the BeDRoC Group is to help the BPR/OCS develop and promote a coherent, empirically and theoretically sound approach to the application of the behavioral and social sciences to research addressing cancer health disparities.
BeDRoC’s functions include:
- Share knowledge about cancer health disparities research with an emphasis on the social and behavioral sciences
- Provide a forum for communication of activities and work in the area of cancer health disparities
- Promote networking, collaboration and partnerships among BRP branches and the OCS relative to cancer health disparities and behavior
- Serve as a resource/advisory group with expertise in health disparities that provides the BRP/OCS community with feedback and input into proposals, manuscripts, documents, etc., that contain a health disparities component
- Provide a venue for seminars and speakers in the area of cancer health disparities and sociobehavioral research
- Provide guidance regarding cancer health disparities and sociobehavioral research to program directors in their work with the extramural community.
Health Disparities Funding Opportunities
For a comprehensive list of cancer control grant opportunities, visit DCCPS Funding Opportunities.
Exploratory Grants for Behavioral Research in Cancer Control (PA-02-001) invite research grant applications from interested investigators to conduct developmental and formative behavioral research in cancer prevention and control through a program of exploratory investigator-initiated R21 grants. The exploratory/developmental (R21) grant mechanism is used for projects to collect pilot data for subsequent larger studies. Because the exploratory grant mechanism is designed to support innovative ideas, preliminary data as evidence of feasibility are not required. This PA funds $100,000 per year in direct costs for each of two years. The objective of this Program Announcement (PA) is to encourage applications from individuals who are interested in research in the social and behavioral aspects of the cancer control continuum from prevention to end of life care.
For questions contact:
Dr. Sabra Woolley
For the full text of the PA visit:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-02-001.html
The Small Grants Program for Behavioral Research in Cancer Control (PAR-04-020) is designed to encourage investigators from a variety of academic, scientific, and public health disciplines to apply their skills to behavioral research investigations in cancer prevention and control. Small grants are short-term awards to provide support for:
- Pilot Projects
- Development and testing of new methodologies
- Secondary data analyses
- Innovative projects that provide a basis for more extended research
Studies may contribute to the design, implementation or evaluation of intervention programs, descriptive baseline surveys, testing, modification and validation of surveys or program materials for use in the proposed population groups, testing of recruitment, intervention or compliance procedures for participants, etc. The program is funded through the NIH small research grant mechanism (R03).
For questions contact:
Veronica Chollette, RN
For the full text of the PA, visit:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-04-020.html
Health Disparities Research Opportunities
The Centers for Population Health and Health Disparities RFA (ES-02-009) initiative began in FY03. This initiative supports a network of 8 centers working to promote innovative interdisciplinary, multi-level research on the origins and solutions to health disparities in American populations. It is administered from the Basic and Biobehavioral Research Branch in BRP (Program Director: S. Heurtin-Roberts) in collaboration with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Institute on Aging (NIA).
Examples of other BRP-supported health disparities research are the "Digital Divide" projects, which developed interventions to improve access to and use of reliable and accurate information on cancer for underserved populations. Programs have been established to provide computer and Internet instruction as well as refurbished computers, with demonstrated improvement of Internet comfort as a source of cancer information, as well as increased online health information-seeking strategies. BRP has also supported "Eat for Life" and "Black Churches United for Better Health," two programs targeting at-risk African-American populations to increase their daily consumption of fruits and vegetables. Heretofore primarily studied among Caucasians, a recent intervention study among African Americans compared the efficacy of sustained release bupropion + counseling to a placebo + counseling group. Results from this doubled blinded randomized trial indicate that the point prevalence abstinence rate and continuous abstinence for the treatment group was significantly greater than the control group at follow-up. Additional studies are needed to further test the efficacy of bupropion and behavioral therapies for diverse racial/ethnic groups in the United States.
Areas of Emphasis
- The Applied Cancer Screening Research Branch has actively been promoting the R21 mechanism to stimulate research elucidating sociocultural and economic barriers to screening, and to develop and test appropriate methods and measures.
- The work supported by the Basic and Biobehavioral Research Branch will inform health disparities issues primarily through the examination of the mechanisms underlying the relation between biological processes and health behavior.
- In the Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch, disparities research has focused on the "Digital Divide" as it relates to cancer information dissemination and on targeting of communication to specific underserved groups in interventions.
- Research efforts in the Health Promotion Research Branch currently focus on cancer disparities related to lifestyle factors such as nutrition and physical activity.
- The Tobacco Control Research Branch (TCRB) supports a variety of health disparities grants through investigator-initiated research and through the Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Centers, the Tobacco Industry Documents Research, the Community and State Grants, Fogarty International Center Research Grants, and the Youth Prevention and Cessation Initiative. TCRB held the first National Conference on Tobacco and Health Disparities in December 2002.
Contact Information
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