# Stephenson Cancer Center - Cancer Center Support Grant

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA HLTH SCIENCES CTR · 2020 · $145,000

## Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly altered nearly every facet of daily life. Although social and physical
distancing constraints appear to be slowing the spread of the disease, they may be adversely affecting cancer-
related preventive behaviors and accessibility to medical services, including cancer treatment. The impact of
such COVID-19 restrictions must be quantified to understand and mitigate short- and long-term effects across
the cancer continuum, especially among vulnerable populations, including American Indian adults. The goal of
this study is to explore how differences in demographics (e.g., age, sex, educational attainment) may impact
engagement in cancer preventive behaviors (e.g., tobacco cessation, cancer screening) and cancer
management/survivorship behaviors (e.g., access to cancer treatment services) in the context of COVID-19
restrictions (e.g., social distancing, alterations in work arrangements) by surveying a sample of 1,000 American
Indian adults, including those who have never had cancer, cancer patients and cancer survivors. This study will
be conducted by the Stephenson Cancer Center Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) program in
close coordination with three American Indian tribal nations, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Chickasaw Nation,
and Cherokee Nation, and the Oklahoma Area Tribal Epidemiology Center. This goal will be achieved by
completing three specific aims: (1) to develop and administer a survey exploring the impact of COVID-19
restrictions on cancer prevention and control behaviors. This survey will include a core set of common data
elements that will be administered by several NCI-designated Cancer Centers to increase the depth and
generalizability of findings; (2) to develop an accurate and robust data integration method using novel machine
learning and propensity score weighting approaches to improve the representativeness of the sample of
American Indian adults that will be drawn in Oklahoma; and (3) to analyze data to inform tribes, healthcare
delivery systems serving American Indian patients, and Stephenson Cancer Center research program
members and clinicians regarding how American Indian adults are being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Findings will be used to inform interventions and policies aimed at mitigating the cancer-relevant effects of
COVID-19 restrictions in a highly vulnerable group residing within the Stephenson Cancer Center catchment
area of Oklahoma. Future iterations of the survey to monitor trends over time are planned. A timeline of
COVID-19 related guidance, restrictions or regulatory mandates that have been enacted at the national, state
and tribal levels will be constructed to form a context that will allow for meaningful interpretation of findings by
tribal community leaders and researchers.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10149784
- **Project number:** 3P30CA225520-03S5
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA HLTH SCIENCES CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** MARK P DOESCHER
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $145,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-05-01 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10149784

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10149784, Stephenson Cancer Center - Cancer Center Support Grant (3P30CA225520-03S5). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10149784. Licensed CC0.

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