Cancer disparities persist, in part, due to historical, social, and structural inequities. Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the conditions in which people are born, grow, learn, work, play, live, and age, and the wider set of structural factors shaping the conditions of daily life. These structural factors include social, economic, and legal forces, systems, and policies that determine opportunities and access to high-quality jobs, education, housing, transportation, built environment, information and communication infrastructure, food, and health care; the social environment; and other conditions of daily life. Achieving cancer control equity requires interventions addressing multilevel SDOH influences, collaboration across sectors, and meaningful community engagement.
Funded Initiatives
Advancing Cancer Control Equity Research through Transformative Solutions (ACCERT)
The National Cancer Institute’s Advancing Cancer Control Equity Research through Transformative Solutions (ACCERT) initiative is a consortium of four centers investigating and developing interventions to address the impact of SDOH on adverse cancer control and prevention outcomes by
- developing interventions targeting multilevel pathways by which SDOH impact cancer outcomes
- developing measures and methods and assessing community-level SDOH, community engagement, and cancer control equity processes and outcomes
- building capacity among diverse scholars and community partners to implement interventions that incorporate the lived experiences of those facing cancer inequities
ACCERT Centers
| MPIs | Center | PI/PMI Institutions | Project Number |
| Bernard Fuemmeler (contact), and Jessica Gokee Larose | Virginia Advancing Cancer Control Equity Research Through Transformative Solutions (VA-ACCERT) Center | Virginia Commonwealth University | 1U19CA291433-01 |
| Bettina Drake (contact), Graham Colditz, Amiee James, and Spring Schmidt | Washington University ACCERT Center
|
Washington University in St. Louis | 1U19CA291430-01 |
| Karen Emmons (contact), and Cheryl Clark | The Massachusetts Partnership for Community-Engaged Cancer Control Equity (Mass PCECCE) | Harvard School of Public Health | 1U19CA291431-01 |
| Melissa Simon (contact), and Betina Yanez | Advancing Cancer Control Equity Research Through Transformative Solutions in Patient Navigation (ACCERT PN)
|
Northwestern University | 1U19CA291404-01 |
NCI ACCERT Initiative Leads
- April Oh, PhD, MPH — Senior Advisor for Scientific Outreach and Engagement, Office of the Director
- Amanda Acevedo, PhD — Program Director, Behavioral Research Program
- Gina Tesauro, MSW — Public Health Advisor, Office of the Associate Director
NCI ACCERT Project Scientist
- Kate Castro, MS, RN, AOCN — Nurse Consultant, Office of the Associate Director of the Healthcare Delivery Research Program
- Maria Roditis, PhD, MPH — Program Director, Tobacco Control Research Branch
- Sylvia Chou, PhD, MPH — Program Director, Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch
- Tanya Agurs-Collins, PhD, RD — Acting Chief and Program Director, Health Behaviors Research Branch