Partnering for Equity: An Academic and Community Alliance to Eliminate Disparities throughout the Fibroid Experience (PEACE) - Uterine leiomyomata or fibroids (UF) are the most common neoplasm in reproductive-age individuals and represent one of the most significant racial disparities in reproductive health. Black women have higher prevalence, higher incidence, more invasive surgical approaches, worse surgical outcomes, more hysterectomies, and higher levels of treatment dissatisfaction than White women. Considerable evidence indicates that race is a social construct, and thus we propose that social and structural determinants of health such as chronic stressors and life events, discrimination/racism, psychosocial factors, education/knowledge, and living conditions undergird some of the observed disparities in UF. The overall goal of this center proposal, titled, Partnering for Equity: An Academic and Community Alliance to Eliminate Disparities throughout the Fibroid Experience (PEACE), is to identify and quantify these social drivers of the observed disparities in UF incidence, growth, treatment pathways, and patient experiences between Black and White women. Our goal is to provide the much-needed data to identify solutions and interventions to reduce these disparities and improve the health and well-being of Black women with UF and all women with UF. This Center will be guided by the principles of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR), in which community members, stakeholders, and researchers work in partnership to conduct research that is equitable in process, resources, accountability, and responsibility. We will leverage the expertise of our community/academic partners to focus on socio-cultural drivers of UF incidence, growth, treatment pathways, and patient experiences. To take on this extraordinary problem, we have assembled an extraordinary team of community members and investigators who have worked together for months to build the PEACE Center from the ground up. The Center team represents an incredible range of expertise, from UF clinical, CBPR, and epidemiological experts, to national and global leaders who are new to UF, but bring vast experience in health disparities, health equity, African American history and culture, sociology, health services, health behavior, and health intervention. We propose three highly multidisciplinary and innovative research projects for this center: Project 1- Racial Disparities in UF Care Pathways; Project 2- Multiple Stress Pathways and Positive Resources in UF Incidence and Growth; and Project 3- Centering Patients: Development of a Tailored eHealth Intervention to Improve the UF Patient Experience. Two core facilities will support the research projects: an Administrative Core and the Community Partnership, Education, and Outreach Core. Internal and External Advisory Boards will provide scientific input biannually and yearly, respectively. The PEACE Center will include a Pilot Grant Program for Early-Stage Investigators and a Community Dissemination Grants Program for community organizations. Together, we anticipate that the results obtained from these projects and this alliance will increase health equity throughout the UF continuum and will improve the health of those diagnosed with and most burdened by this highly prevalent and morbid disease.
