Community-Academic Partnerships for Health Research: An Iterative and Transparent Process of Patient Engagement Before the Research Begins.

Background: The root causes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disparities include longstanding systemic racial bias in economic advancement and care delivery, discrimination, lack of access, and social determinants of health. To address these causes, research institutions and health care systems must shift their lens from one that focuses solely on changing behaviors among underserved and vulnerable populations to one that is inward facing.

Methods: We worked with a community advisory board and an African American church that has partnered on research for more than a decade to identify community norms, needs, and key resources needed for establishing community-academic partnerships for COVID-19 testing.

Study protocol for transforming health equity research in integrated primary care: Antiracism as a disruptive innovation.

Among the consequences of systemic racism in health care are significant health disparities among Black/African American individuals with comorbid physical and mental health conditions. Despite decades of studies acknowledging health disparities based on race, significant change has not occurred. There are shockingly few evidence-based antiracism interventions.

Research in the USA on COVID-19's long-term effects: measures needed to ensure black, indigenous and Latinx communities are not left behind.

The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to expose underlying inequities in healthcare for black, indigenous and Latinx communities in the USA. The gaps in equitable care for communities of colour transcend the diagnosis, treatment and vaccinations related to COVID-19. We are experiencing a continued gap across racial and socioeconomic lines for those who suffer prolonged effects of COVID-19, also known as 'Long COVID-19'.

Pragmatic patient engagement in designing pragmatic oncology clinical trials.

Oncology trials are the cornerstone of effective and safe therapeutic discoveries. However, there is increasing demand for pragmatism and patient engagement in the design, implementation and dissemination of oncology trials. Many researchers are uncertain about making trials more practical and even less knowledgeable about how to meaningfully engage patients without compromising scientific rigor to meet regulatory requirements.

Lessons Learned from the Medical University of South Carolina Transdisciplinary Collaborative Center (TCC) in Precision Medicine and Minority Men's Health.

The Transdisciplinary Collaborative Center (TCC) in Precision Medicine for Minority Men's Health was established at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in 2015 to address disparities in the translation of precision medicine approaches among racial minority groups. This regional consortium focuses on three primary areas: (1) the development of a consortium of regional and national partners, (2) conducting transdisciplinary research examining synergistic effects of biological, social, physiological, and clinical determinants of chronic disease risks and outcomes, and (3) dissemination and implementation of precision medicine approaches, with an emphasis on reducing disparities in health care and outcomes among minority men. Given consistent calls to better translate precision medicine approaches and the focus of this consortium on addressing disparities among minority men, we provide an overview of our experience in developing the MUSC TCC, including barriers and facilitators to conducting translational research on minority men's health issues in the context of precision medicine.

The Family Value of Information, Community Support, and Experience Study: Rationale, Design, and Methods of a "Family-Centered" Research Study.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act focuses on improving consumer engagement and patient-centered care. This article describes the design and rationale of a study targeting family engagement in pediatric mental health services. The study is a 90-day randomized trial of a telephone-delivered Family Navigator services versus usual care for parents of Medicaid-insured youth younger than 13 years with serious mental illness.

Using community-based participatory research in patient-centered outcomes research to address health disparities in under-represented communities.

The emergence of patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) has created a paradigm shift in the way health outcomes research is designed, conducted and disseminated. While PCOR expands the potential for patients to play a key advisory role in every aspect of the research process, community-based participatory research (CBPR) has long provided this opportunity for engaging communities in research. CBPR is an excellent tool for achieving PCOR goals of improving the health of all people by providing them with evidence-based information for making informed healthcare decisions.

The National Cancer Institute's Community Networks Program Initiative to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities: Outcomes and Lessons Learned.

Background: We describe reach, partnerships, products, benefits, and lessons learned of the 25 Community Network Programs (CNPs) that applied community-based participatory research (CBPR) to reduce cancer health disparities.

Methods: Quantitative and qualitative data were abstracted from CNP final reports. Qualitative data were grouped by theme.

A Legacy of Science and Community Engagement via the Community Networks Program.

This special issue documents the progress of a unique group of research investigations that further legitimize the engagement of affected communities in quality cancer health disparities research and, the importance of mentoring and training of new and diverse health disparity researchers. The implications for the reduction and elimination of cancer health disparities within the United States are apparent. The diversity of populations included in these novel studies also has implications for addressing inequities in a global context.

25th Anniversary Supplement of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved.

This Supplemental Issues of the celebrates the 25 year of the journal’s publication. The theme for this issue is the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (PPACA), the landmark health reform legislation that was signed into law by President Obama in March of 2010, and in the broadest of terms upheld by the Supreme Court in the Spring of 2013. This theme is timely and relevant given the original and current focus for this scholarly publication on the medically underserved and the intent of the legislation, among other areas, to provide health insurance for millions of uninsured and underinsured in the Nation.

The Affordable Care Act and genetic testing for inheritable cancer syndromes: impact on high-risk underserved minorities.

Genetic testing for inheritable cancer syndromes is becoming a critical part of preventive health services. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) Essential Health Benefits package addresses breast cancer susceptibility-gene testing for women who are unaffected by cancer. The absence of provisions for 1) men, 2) cancer patients, 3) other inheritable cancer syndromes, and 4) risk-reducing interventions are limitations of PPACA.

Rural community-academic partnership model for community engagement and partnered research.

Background: A rural community-academic partnership was developed in 1997 between the Eastern Shore Area Health Education Center (ESAHEC) and the University of Maryland School of Medicine's (UMSOM) Office of Policy and Planning (OPP). The model supports partnered research, bidirectional interactions, and community and health professional education.

Objectives: The primary aim was to develop a sustainable community-academic partnership that addressed health and social issues on the rural Eastern Shore.

A model for bidirectional community-academic engagement (CAE): overview of partnered research, capacity enhancement, systems transformation, and public trust in research.

The University of Maryland's Office of Policy and Planning in collaboration with urban and rural community partners, planned and implemented a model for community-academic engagement (CAE) in partnered research and programs. The model addressed health disparities, cancer and tobacco-related diseases, and public trust in research. Environments have flourished that resulted in bidirectional community-academic interactions, and led to transformation of the academic environment and community capacity to identify and address health issues.

University of Maryland School of Medicine increases medical student education in primary care.

In August 2012 the University of Maryland School of Medicine will start a new Primary Care Track for incoming first year medical students as a collaborative program of the departments of Family and Community Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics. Its focus will be to introduce all students to primary care role models early in medical school, and to offer a longitudinal experience in primary care in rural and urban underserved communities to interested students, with the intention of increasing the number of UMD medical students who choose primary care careers in these communities.

The potential impact of comparative effectiveness research on the health of minority populations.

Minorities suffer more frequently and more severely from many diseases than do non-Hispanic whites, and they often receive lower-quality care, which leads to poorer health outcomes. Given the diversity of the US population, comparative effectiveness research should capture the health outcomes of racial and ethnic minority groups and investigate whether disparities reflect variations in care or different responses to treatment. We recommend a number of measures to ensure that this research addresses the needs of minorities, including greater attention to subgroup analysis.

Prostaglandin E receptor EP1 suppresses breast cancer metastasis and is linked to survival differences and cancer disparities.

Cyclooxygenase-2 is frequently overexpressed and associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer. The cyclooxygenase-2 product prostaglandin E(2) elicits cellular responses through four G-protein-coupled receptors, designated EP1 to EP4, coupled to distinct intracellular signaling pathways. EP4, expressed on malignant breast cells, promotes metastasis; however, a role for EP1 in metastasis has not been investigated.

Tobacco smoke exposure in either the donor or recipient before transplantation accelerates cardiac allograft rejection, vascular inflammation, and graft loss.

Background: Tobacco exposure in cardiac transplant recipients, before and after transplantation, may increase the risk of cardiac allograft vasculopathy and allograft loss, but no direct evidence for this phenomenon is forthcoming. In this experimental study, we investigated early consequences of tobacco smoke exposure in cardiac transplant donors and recipients with an emphasis on alloinflammatory mediators of graft outcome.

Methods And Results: Using heterotopic rat cardiac transplantation, we tested the effects of donor or recipient tobacco smoke exposure in 6 groups of animals (rat heterotopic cardiac transplantation) as follows: tobacco-naïve allogeneic rejecting controls (n=6), tobacco-naïve nonrejecting controls (n=3; killed on day 5 to simulate survival times of tobacco-treated animals), isografts (n=3), both donor and recipient rats exposed to tobacco smoke (n=4), only donor rats exposed to tobacco smoke (n=7), and only recipient rats exposed to tobacco smoke (n=6).

Analysis of Maryland cancer patient participation in National Cancer Institute-supported cancer treatment clinical trials.

Purpose: We examined the relationship of sociodemographic factors, urban/rural residence, and county-level socioeconomic factors on accrual of Maryland patients with cancer to National Cancer Institute (NCI)-sponsored cancer treatment clinical trials.

Patients And Methods: Data were analyzed for the period 1999 to 2002 for 2240 Maryland patients with cancer accrued onto NCI-sponsored treatment trials. The extent to which Maryland patients with cancer and patients residing in lower socioeconomic and/or rural areas were accrued to cancer trials and were representative of all patients with cancer in Maryland was determined.

Increasing pap smear utilization among Samoan women: results from a community based participatory randomized trial.

Background: We tested the effectiveness of a theory-guided, culturally tailored cervical cancer education program designed to increase Pap smear use among Samoan women residing in the U.S. Territory of American Samoa.

A descriptive analysis of state legislation and policy addressing clinical trials participation.

Objectives: This report describes state policy and legislation related to clinical trials participation and Maryland's model to enhance clinical trial availability and participation.

Methods: Descriptive review of state policy and legislation related to coverage for clinical trials costs based on data from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) State Cancer Legislative Database, the American Cancer Society, and NCI; additionally, discussion of Maryland's comprehensive multilevel clinical trial model comprising policy initiatives, community engagement, research, education, and infrastructure support.

Results: Twenty-four states have mandated clinical trial coverage through specific legislation or agreements since 1994.