# Evaluation of Cancer Health Activism Network for Greater Equity (CHANGE)

> **NIH NIH R25** · RICE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $264,132

## Abstract

The Cancer Health Activism Network for Greater Equity (CHANGE) project addresses inequities
in education and health outcomes for African American students in biosciences by enhancing
biology teachers' cancer research and cancer health disparities knowledge and developing and
implementing transformative, innovative, socially just biology lessons. The lessons will be refined
over a series of Saturday workshops (CHANGE Academies) for students in schools that primarily
serve Black and African American students in the Houston area. Additionally, locally and
nationally, CHANGE will broadly disseminate these lessons through in-person and virtual
professional developments (Health Disparities Institute for Teachers) for educators. The specific
aims of this collaboration are to (i) increase teacher knowledge of both cancer biology and cancer
health disparities and (ii) produce a novel high school biology curriculum on cancer biology and
health disparities research grounded in the Transformative Leadership framework, and (iii) assess
the impact of the CHANGE curriculum on student outcomes. The team that we have assembled
includes the highest caliber of NIH-funded researchers, leaders in STEM teacher Professional
Development (PD), experienced curriculum writers, leading bioethicists, and social scientists with
expertise in racial disparities and inequities and large, diverse school districts. The PI and the
research team have a track record of providing teacher PD that enhances and improves teachers'
science content knowledge, self-efficacy, and leadership, improving student outcomes. Rice
University is an ideal location for this project because it is strategically located in the large and
diverse city of Houston, Texas, and is adjacent to the Texas Medical Center (TMC), the largest
medical complex in the world. These collaborations routinely occur between the TMC and Rice
University. This proposal is responsive to the goals of the NIH SEPA program as it will focus on
Research Experiences, Curriculum or Methods Development, and Outreach to increase Black
and African American interest and motivation in biosciences fields. The outcomes of this project,
including the curricular materials that will be developed, will advance current knowledge about
effective social justice in high school education as we pursue educational and health equity to
successfully promote a diverse bioscience workforce.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10890635
- **Project number:** 5R25GM150177-02
- **Recipient organization:** RICE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Carolyn Aitken Nichol
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $264,132
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-01 → 2028-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10890635

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10890635, Evaluation of Cancer Health Activism Network for Greater Equity (CHANGE) (5R25GM150177-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10890635. Licensed CC0.

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