Engaging African American men as citizen scientists to validate a prostate cancer biomarker: Work-in-progress

Karriem S. Watson*, Vida Henderson, Marcus Murray, Adam B. Murphy, Josef Ben Levi, Tiffany McDowell, Alfreda Holloway-Beth, Pooja Gogana, Michael A. Dixon, Leandre Moore, Ivanhoe Hall, Alexander Kimbrough, Yamilé Molina, Robert A. Winn

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: African American men (AAM) are underrepresented in prostate cancer (PCa) research despite known disparities. Screening with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) has low specificity for high-grade PCa leading to PCa over diagnosis. The Prostate Health Index (PHI) has higher specificity for lethal PCa but needs validation in AAM. Engaging AAM as citizen scientists (CSs) may improve participation of AAM in PCa research. Objectives: Assess feasibility of mobilizing CSs to recruit AAM as controls for PHI PCa validation biomarker study. Methods: We highlight social networks/assets of stakeholders, CSs curriculum development/implementation, and recruitment of healthy controls for PHI validation. Results and Lessons Learned: Eight CSs completed all training modules and 139 AAM were recruited. Challenges included equity in research leadership among multiple principal investigators (PIs) and coordinating CSs trainings. Conclusions: Engaging AAM CSs can support engaging/ recruiting AAM in PCa biomarker validation research. Equity among multiple stakeholders can be challenging, but proves beneficial in engaging AAM in research.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)103-112
Number of pages10
JournalProgress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action
Volume13
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019

Funding

Work for this partnership was supported by the National Cancer Institute (U54CA202995, U54CA202997, U54CA203000). This work is also support in part by the Center for Health Equity Research Chicago (CHER Chicago) and the National Institute of Minority Health Disparities (U54MD012523) and NCI P20 CA202908.. Special thanks to the University of Illinois Cancer Center, Ms. Erica Martinez, and Dr. Erica Seltzer. We also thank Mr. Shaan Trotter from the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center and Northwestern University and Dr. Rick Kittles from the City of Hope. We thank NCI Program Director Nelson Aquila, DVM, and Dr. Sonya Springfield, PhD, Director of the NCI Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities. Special thanks to the Administrative Core of the Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative and Drs. Melissa Simon, Joe Feinglass, Robert A. Winn, Marian Fitzgibbon, Christina Ciecierski, and Lidia Filus. We thank the Community Engagement Core and the Planning and Evaluation Core of Chicago CHEC. Work for this partnership was supported by the National Cancer Institute (U54CA202995, U54CA202997, U54CA203000). This work is also support in part by the Center for Health Equity Research Chicago (CHER Chicago) and the National Institute of Minority Health Disparities (U54MD012523) and NCI P20 CA202908.

Keywords

  • African American men
  • Citizen scientists
  • Community engagement
  • Community-based participatory research
  • Prostate cancer

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Health(social science)
  • Education
  • Sociology and Political Science

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