Shaw's IHSCR Awarded Grant to Establish Jamaican Partnership on Prostate Cancer Research
Shaw Students to Participate in "Shaw in Jamaica Mon Project"

Raleigh, NC - (May 5, 2009) The Institute for Health, Social and Community Research (IHSCR) at Shaw University has identified prostate cancer as one of its research focus areas. Research is currently underway with leading prostate cancer investigators at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Johns Hopkins University via the Shaw UNC-CH Center for Prostate Cancer Research and the Shaw-Johns Hopkins Center for Prostate Cancer Research. The IHSCR has now expanded this research emphasis internationally.

The National Institutes of Health National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities has awarded the IHSCR a five year $1,209,368.00 grant to establish a partnership with researchers from the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus in Kingston, Jamaica to: (1) encourage undergraduate students from populations affected by health disparities to participate in international collaborative research; (2) introduce and recruit undergraduate students to careers in behavioral and epidemiologic health research fields including psychology, social psychology, sociology, health research, epidemiology, and other related fields; (3) provide behavioral research training to undergraduate students from Shaw University on prostate cancer-related topics; and, (4) conduct a significant research project that will further the elimination of racial health disparities in prostate cancer among Jamaican men of African descent.
The partnership has established “The Shaw in Jamaica MoN Project” that will allow eight students from Shaw University to spend a 10-week residential summer internship at UWI to develop a better understanding of the attitudes and behaviors of Jamaican men including their awareness, knowledge, attitudes and beliefs, behaviors and risk perceptions related to prostate cancer and screening. This will be accomplished through tours and interviews with Jamaican residents, discussions, lectures and guided readings on prostate cancer lead by leading researchers, and training in survey data collection. A diverse group of researchers, health care providers, community advocates, public health practitioners, and academicians will be involved in various aspects of the orientation and training. A $2,500 stipend is provided for each student participant. During the academic year, the students will continue to participate in research skill-building activities provided by the IHSCR. The students selected to participate in the first 10 week internship of the Shaw in Jamaica MoN Project are: Dominique Johnson, Pamela Robinson, Tiffany Mackey, Chaniqua Scott, Sivad Shaw, Roy Powell, Desma Green, and Letitia Beckett.
“The Shaw in Jamaica MoN Project provides an unprecedented opportunity for promising Shaw University students,” said Dr. Daniel L. Howard, Principal Investigator for the Project. “The basic tenet of the study is that we can recruit, orient to research, and train promising undergraduates at Shaw to conduct cutting edge research in an international setting - Jamaica. Students will learn important skills and participate in collecting much-needed data regarding the prevalence and incidence of prostate cancer and its disproportionate impact on Jamaican men. It is a win-win opportunity for all involved.”
Twenty-five students submitted application packages for the eight (8) available positions. “The competition was fierce and the excitement about the opportunity was “all the buzz” on campus,” noted Mrs. Sharon Wellman, Project Manager. After the application packets were reviewed, the top ranked students were interviewed in the final stage of the selection process. Once students were notified of their selection, there were excited calls to parents, siblings, friends, and grandparents. “We are pleased to be able to provide this type of high-quality, academic experience to our students,” said Dr. Howard. “We expect that this experience will introduce them to research as well as spark interest in research careers so that we can increase the current small pool of minority researchers.”
The Shaw Family salutes and congratulates the continued excellence of the IHSCR in the establishment of this exciting partnership.
 

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