Grant Number:	1U19CA291404-01 Interpret this number
Primary Investigator:	Simon, Melissa
Organization:	Northwestern University At Chicago
Project Title:	Advancing Cancer Control Equity Research Through Transformative Solutions in Patient Navigation (Accert Pn)
Fiscal Year:	2024

OVERALL – ABSTRACT Chicago, one of the most diverse yet segregated cities in the US, is characterized by egregious cancer health inequities. We propose to establish the Advancing Control Equity Research Through Transformative Solutions in Patient Navigation (ACCERT PN) Center to develop community-engaged interventions, measures and methods for process and outcomes assessment, and researcher and community partner capacity and engagement centered around the theme of innovative multilevel patient navigation (PN) approaches and implementation science within learning health systems to address structural racism and other Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) with the goal of mitigating cancer health inequities in Chicago’s Black, Latinx, and low-income Chinese communities. The ACCERT PN Center’s research program will commence in the first year with the launch of a five-year signature SDOH Research Project and two rapid and responsive, thematically linked Community Responsive Projects. The SDOH Research Project will leverage innovations in systems engineering and artificial intelligence (AI) to develop and test two multilevel PN approaches via a Hybrid Type 2 randomized effectiveness-implementation trial. Community Responsive Project 1 will develop communication strategies and training resources for navigators and healthcare providers on community-driven cancer survivorship topics for Black women, such as sexuality after cancer, via the Truth Talking Tour. Community Responsive Project 2 will explore the use of AI social robots in Chicago Chinatown community settings to enhance digital literacy and cancer health literacy to inform the SDOH Research Project. Additional Community Responsive Projects will be identified in subsequent years. Projects are supported by an Administrative Core that will oversee operational and scientific activities as well as community and internal and external advisory boards, and build capacity and engagement among scholars, including those from underrepresented groups in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, and community partners to implement ACCERT PN interventions that incorporate the lived experiences of those who face cancer inequities. A Research Methods, Measures & Data Management Core will support the development, implementation, and evaluation of projects by developing measures and methods, and assessing community-level SDOH, community engagement, and cancer control equity processes and outcomes. This Center brings strong scientific rigor with significant potential to enact transformative solutions to advance cancer control equity, as demonstrated by our focus on scaling and transforming PN toward systems level care improvement to adequately close cancer care delivery gaps; a diverse, transdisciplinary community-academic research team with exceptional track records in cancer control, PN, SDOH, community engagement, implementation science, artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, systems engineering, community mobilization, and patient advocacy; and meaningful engagement with Chicago communities and multisectoral community partners with the guiding North Star of “nothing about us without us”. 2





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