1/2 Howard - Hopkins Comprehensive Alliance in Cancer Research, Education, and Equity (H2CAREE) - PROJECT SUMMARY In response to NIH PAR-23-308, the Howard-Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Alliance in Cancer Research, Education and Equity (H2CAREE) initiative aims to advance cancer care and health equity through the partnership between Howard University (HU) and the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center (SKCCC). Situated in the vibrant DC, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area, the two institutions collectively have a direct impact on a population of 4 million historically underserved African Americans in the area, with over 2 million Black residents in the metropolitan of Washington DC and Baltimore. Focused on DMV region, the initiative strives to address healthcare disparities in this diverse and significant demographic. Howard University and Johns Hopkins University possess distinctive strengths that complement each other in achieving the proposed goal through integrated research, research education, and outreach. The primary objectives are to establish and sustain collaborative cancer research programs with an emphasis on health equity, to boost cancer research education programs at HU, and to advance cancer care for traditionally underserved populations through outreach activities. The H2CAREE initiative comprises of four Cores (Administrative, Outreach, Research Education, and Planning & Evaluation); two Full Research Projects; one Pilot Research Project; and one Shared Resource Core (Data Science). With these assets and activities, the Partnership will: 1) through research projects, the shared resource core, and the research education core, increase cancer research and research education capacity at HU; 2) through the research projects, improve research programs focusing on cancer health disparity at SKCCC; 3) through the research project and the research education core, increase the number of investigators and students conducting cancer health disparities research; 4) through the research education core and outreach core, promote the diversity of the cancer research workforce by increasing the number of African American students pursuing cancer research; and 5) through the outreach core, develop and implement cancer outreach and education initiatives that benefit both locally, i.e. the DMV region, and nationally. Additionally, the Planning and Evaluation Core will continually assess/evaluate outcomes of the cores, research projects, and shared resources. Together, the collection of the efforts in H2CAREE will contribute to elimination of cancer health disparities.
