The National Cancer Institute (NCI) announced on May 6 that UAB has been awarded a $7 million grant to continue reducing cancer disparities in minority and poor populations in Alabama and Mississippi. The award, 1 of 25 nationally, will continue funding the UAB Deep South Network for Cancer Control.

This is the second time the UAB Deep South Network has received NCI funding; it received a $6.1 million, 5-year grant in 2000. Co-principal investigators are Mona Fouad, MD, director of the UAB Minority Health and Research Center, and Edward Partridge, MD, associate director of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. Groesbeck Parham, MD, also is a lead investigator.

The network targets two poor, rural regions — Alabama's Black Belt and the Mississippi Delta — and two urban areas — Jefferson County and the Hattiesburg/Laurel metropolitan region. The network trains community leaders, known as community health advisors (CHAs), to educate family and friends about the importance of cancer prevention and early detection. To date, the group has trained 883 CHAs, increasing mammography screening among African Americans by 18%.

"The Deep South Network has already impacted the enormous health-care disparity that exists in our region," Dr. Partridge says. "This grant will allow us to build upon the infrastructure that we've established and to train new community leaders who will educate their peers."

As in the past 5 years, breast and cervical cancer will be the focus. A colon cancer emphasis also will be added.

Minority and underserved populations in the South have among the highest cancer rates in the country. The first step in educating the medically underserved is teaching that cancer screenings are effective and worthwhile. The next step is helping patients understand how the health-care system works.

"Health advisors understand the issues facing their individual communities, and people in their neighborhoods trust them," program manager Claudia Hardy says. "They are able to educate, assist with access to care, and help individuals navigate the health-care system. Plus, the grant helps us provide significant economic support to the region by hiring local staff."

The Deep South Network includes collaborators from the University of Alabama, Tuskegee University, and the University of Southern Mississippi.

In this round, NCI has awarded $95 million in grants to 25 institutions — one of the largest community-based study efforts of its kind.

UAB's Comprehensive Cancer Center has been a national leader in community outreach since the 1980s. As the only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center in a five-state region, UAB has an obligation to address the South's cancer burden, Center Acting Director Peter Emanuel, MD, says. "The value of the Deep South grant is enormous because it allows community leaders to partner with our researchers. We believe this grassroots work, with a scientific basis, will bring our cancer rates down."