# Community Outreach and Engagement

> **NIH NIH P30** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $302,939

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT
Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) for Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University (Winship) has
been built on a strong foundation of catchment area assessment, community-engaged research, and
dissemination of evidence-based interventions. In its efforts to reduce cancer disparities in Winship's catchment
area, the state of Georgia, COE has assessed the cancer burden and priorities; identified special populations of
interest and significant disparities; collaborated with community partners on strategic planning; established
measurable outcomes; and thoughtfully allocated its budget in support of infrastructure and activities to advance
COE goals. The availability of unique resources to support population-based studies, e.g., the Georgia SEER
state-wide registry and regional cancer coalitions, has been highlighted and strengthened. With the appointment
of a new cancer center Executive Director, Suresh Ramalingam, MD (DDT), and a new associate director for
COE, Theresa Gillespie, PhD, MA, RN, FAAN (CPC), and in collaboration with Winship's Community Advisory
Board and statewide partners, Winship COE has launched a novel series of innovative and wide-ranging
endeavors. New approaches have been established to ensure bi-directional communication with community and
patient stakeholders, across the entire cancer research continuum. Community partnerships inform and guide
Winship research program portfolios, clinical trials, dissemination and outreach, and translation to policy. The
overall goal of COE is to facilitate catchment area-relevant research, including community-engaged research,
and disseminate evidence-based interventions, to reduce disparities and the cancer burden across Georgia.
This goal will be accomplished through three specific aims: (1) assess, prioritize, monitor, and communicate
catchment area needs and priorities; (2) facilitate and inform Winship programmatic research portfolios, clinical
trials, and strategic planning responsive to catchment area priorities through bi-directional exchanges with
community stakeholders; and (3) disseminate evidence-based interventions and promote policy impact and
translation to the catchment area, nationally and globally. COE initiated a comprehensive approach to catchment
area assessment, priority-setting, and communication internally and externally. To study underlying basic
mechanisms that contribute to poor outcomes and disparities in Georgia, COE hosted discussions on
mechanistic models and connected basic, translational, and population scientists with community and patient
advocates, resulting in submission of multiple proposals. COE transformed accrual monitoring and redesign of
the clinical trials process for investigator-initiated studies, so that both patient advocates and population
scientists/disparities experts are directly involved with trials development from the concept phase onward. To
promote dissemination of eviden...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10848276
- **Project number:** 5P30CA138292-15
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** THERESA W GILLESPIE
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $302,939
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2009-04-07 → 2028-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10848276

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10848276, Community Outreach and Engagement (5P30CA138292-15). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10848276. Licensed CC0.

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