Donation to CHAMP leads to new cancer research for the School of Public Health
The Community Health Awareness, Messages and Prevention (CHAMP) center under the University of Maryland School of Public Health is advancing their research with a recent donation from the Living in Pink Foundation.
CHAMP is a lab dedicated to studying cancer-related disparities within Prince George’s County Maryland and surrounding areas under the direction of Dr. Cheryl L. Knott. The lab trains community health advisers to deliver cancer and early prevention workshops to Black churches through their program called Project HEAL.
The center recently decided to expand its focus in research to women under the average breast cancer screening age of 40.
“What we’re seeing is that people younger than 40 are being diagnosed with breast cancer. With the Living in Pink donation, we can focus on the younger women,” said CHAMP lab program manager Leonore Okwara.
The Living in Pink Foundation donated $100,000 to support Dr. Knott’s CHAMP research and Dr. Cher Dallal’s research for understanding how behavioral risk factors affect the biological mechanisms underlying breast cancer risk.
“I felt honored that our lab was identified as one of excellence in cancer research and worthy of this generous gift,” said Knott.
Knott is also a professor in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health at the School of Public Health and is also co-director of the Center for Health Behavior Research.
The mission of Living in Pink is to improve the lives of those with breast cancer and celebrate their survivors. Michele Conley, a University of Maryland alumna, founded the organization in 2002 after first being diagnosed with cancer in 1998. Conley died in 2014, but her legacy lives on through the donations of her foundations to support breast cancer research and prevention programs.
“I used to tell people that she got more done before 8:30 a.m. than I did the entire day,” said Conley’s husband, Mark Eigenborde.
With the new donation, CHAMP is looking to start with the basics by learning the concerns about breast cancer for women ages 18 to 45 and what information is needed for them to begin discussing breast cancer with their doctors.
“This award will enable our lab to be responsive to a priority raised by our community partners,” said Knotts. “The need to address the educational needs of young African-American women about breast cancer prevention and early detection.”
The lab realizes that this new project will be different from other projects because this is a new age group they have not worked with. Okwara says they are looking for new ways to disseminate information to target the younger audience, and they are currently seeking input.
“We’re excited to see how this turns out,” said Okwara.
They are currently looking for any African American women between the ages of 18 to 45 from the UMD student body, and surrounding community organizations. They hope to create a fact sheet to bring awareness to breast cancer awareness for their target audience.