Center for Community-Based Health Equity
About
The Center for Community-Based Health Equity includes a group of behavioral and implementation scientists and staff who focus on the development, implementation, and sustainability of evidence-based behavioral interventions targeting cancer control priorities for rural communities. This Center is strategically focused on engaging stakeholders and patients and building research capacity across rural Virginia. Most research efforts are currently focused in rural communities located in the Southwest and Southside regions of the UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center’s catchment area. Current research projects are being conducted in partnership with numerous rural healthcare, education, and community-based organizations. Key partners include Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Virginia Department of Health, Parks and Recreation Departments, middle schools, and Head Starts. In affiliation with the UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center, this Center is housed both in Charlottesville and in a satellite office in Christiansburg, Virginia (the ‘UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center Research and Outreach Office’).
Key team members:
- Jamie Zoellner, PhD, RD, Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences
- Becca Krukowski, PhD, Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences
- Wen You, PhD, Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences
- Kathleen Porter, PhD, RD, Research Associate Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences
- Kelsey Day, PhD, MPH, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Public Health Sciences
- Donna Brock, MS, Program Officer, Department of Public Health Sciences
- Annie Reid, MPH, RD, CHES, Research Specialist Senior, Department of Public Health Sciences
- Teace Markwalter, MPH, CHES, Research Specialist Intermediate, Department of Public Health Sciences
- Breanna Foreman, MPH, CHES, CPT, Research Program Specialist, Department of Public Health Sciences
- Cheyanne Helms, MPH, Research Program Advisor, Department of Public Health Sciences
- Caroline Jones, MPH, CHES, Research Specialist, Department of Public Health Sciences
- Katherine Paulikonis, Research Specialist, Department of Public Health Sciences
Primary areas of focus:
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Intervention Areas
- Obesity prevention and treatment, including nutrition and physical activity risk factors
- Improving the quality of life and other outcomes among cancer survivors
- Increasing engagement in cancer screening
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Cross Cutting Methods / Orientation to Research
- Rural health disparities
- Efficacy and effectiveness testing of behavioral interventions
- Digital health approaches to improve access
- Dissemination and implementation methods aimed at translating evidence-based programs and approaches into healthcare and community systems
- Community-based participatory research approaches, including building capacity in rural communities to implement evidence-based behavioral interventions
- Health literacy
- Economic program and policy evaluation
Currently funded extramural research projects:
- weSIPsmarter: An adaptation and efficacy trial to evaluate a behaviorally based digital health intervention aimed at reducing sugary drinks among rural Head Start preschoolers and their parents (R01 National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institutes; PI Zoellner, Co-I: You, Ritterband, Porter)
- iREACH Rural: Addressing Rural Health Disparities by Optimizing “High Touch” Intervention Components in Digital Obesity Treatment (Funding: R01 National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; MPI Krukowski & West, Co-I You)
- weSurvive: Improving Quality of Life and Health Behaviors of Rural Cancer Survivors (American Cancer Society; PI Porter, Co-I: Zoellner, LeBaron, You)
- iSIPsmarter: An RCT to evaluate the efficacy, reach, and engagement of a technology-based behavioral and health literacy intervention to reduce sugary beverages among rural Appalachian adults (R01 National Institutes of Health/National Institutes of Minority Health and Health Disparities, MPI Zoellner & Ritterband, Co-I: Porter, You, Tate)
- Kids SIPsmartER: A multi-level behavioral and health literacy intervention to reduce sugar-sweetened beverages among Appalachian middle-school students (R01 National Institutes of Health/National Institutes of Minority Health and Health Disparities; PI Zoellner, Co-I: Porter, You, Chow, Ritterband)
- Virginia Cancer Screening Collaborative (Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute; PI Cohn, Co-I: Zoellner, Krukowski, Anderson)