ACCESS: Accelerating Cervical Cancer Elimination through the integration of Screen-and-treat Services

NIH RePORTER · NIH · U01 · $125,000 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY My proposal is a submission in response to the Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) identified as NOT-CA-23-038. I am an Assistant Professor of Medical Sociology and Anthropology and a Research Fellow at the Center for Translation and Implementation Science (CTAIR) at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. My research focuses on palliative care (PC), cancer and women’s health in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This administrative supplement mentor award will provide me with the support needed to achieve the following 3 key career development objectives for research in LMIC settings: (1) Sharpen my skills in community based participatory research, stakeholder’s engagement and program integration especially in PC clinical settings; (2) Acquire in-depth knowledge of implementation frameworks and methods to help close the gap between implementation science and implementation practice; (3) Acquire skills and content expertise in PC research. I will conduct research and work with my mentors for a minimum of 40% of my time within the Nigerian Implementation Science Alliance-Model Innovation and Research Centers (NISA-MIRCs), a practice-based research network across the six geographical regions in Nigeria. To accomplish these objectives, I have put together a mentoring team including: (1) a US Primary Mentor, Prof. Gregory Aarons from University of California, San Diego who is an expert in Implementation Science; (2) a LMIC Primary Mentor, Prof. Echezona Ezeanolue from the University of Nigeria, who is an expert in community-based participatory research and clinical research; (3) a LMIC Co-Mentor, Dr Tonia Onyeka from University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital [UNTH], who is an expert in PC research and practice; (4) a LMIC Peer-Mentor, Dr John Olawepo from Center of Translation and Implementation Research [CTAIR], who is an expert in health systems integration. My team of mentors will support my capacity building and research project, which includes a pilot study to explore the feasibility and acceptability of a culturally adapted and integrated PC package to promote wellbeing of women living with HIV (WLHIV) and cervical cancers. My specific aims are to: (1) Co-create and develop feasible, culturally adapted, and sustainable PC service package with WLHIV and cervical cancer from the NISA-MIRCs. We will adapt core elements of PC services recommended in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guideline using well-established mixed method approaches; and (2) Pilot the adapted multicomponent PC package to determine feasibility and acceptability at two NISA-MIRCs facilities. During the year of this administrative award, my Nigeria- and US-based mentors, co-mentor, and peer-mentor will provide additional training and guidance in their areas of expertise including implementation science, community based participatory research, PC, and health systems integration.

Key facts

NIH application ID
10846404
Project number
3U01CA275118-02S1
Recipient
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
Principal Investigator
GREGORY AARONS
Activity code
U01
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2023
Award amount
$125,000
Award type
3
Project period
2022-09-07 → 2024-08-31