Intercultural Institute on Human Development and Aging

Long Island University/Columbia University Collaboration

Long Island University/Columbia University Partnership: Planning Grant (1P20 CA 91372) and Comprehensive Partnership (1 U54 CA 101388)

Aim of the Collaboration

The aim of the LIU/Columbia partnership is to address health disparities, particularly cancer disparities, in ethnic minority populations, by conducting strong interdisciplinary research and training minority scientists. The partnership was initially funded by a three-year NCI P20 Planning Grant to Carol Magai, Ph.D. of Long Island University and Alfred I Neugut, M.D., Ph.D. of Columbia University's Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center , followed by a 5-year U54 Comprehensive Partnership. The title of the grant is "Cancers in Older Minority Populations. The collaboration involves joint retreats, colloquia, and the funding of pilot studies (up to $50,000 in direct costs under the P20 and up to $100,000 under the U54) and full projects (up to $300,000 per year for up to three years). .

Pilot Studies Funded under the P20

2001 - 2002

Magai, C. "Psychosocial deterrents to breast cancer screening in Dominican women".
Neugut, A. & Sheinfeld-Gorin, S. "Extension of academic detailing o Brooklyn".

2002 - 2003

Borrell, L. N., Conway, F., Terry, M. B., & Miller, M. "Ethnic variations and factors influencing breast cancer risk."
Conway, F., Consedine, N. & Bonnano, G.: "Emotion inhibition and memory for cancer knowledge: Ethnic cancer knowledge disparities."
Joe, A. & DePass, A. "Comparative studies of protein expression and genetic markers in cases of African-American and Caucasian breast cancer."
Magai, C., King, A. & McKiernan, J. : "The relation between negative emotion and stress, and biomarkers for prostate cancer in African American men."
Makoni, S., Consedine, N. & Kakafka, R. "Message framing intervention and outcome in terms of cancer knowledge retention and screening compliance."
Neugut, A., Conway, F. & Chen, A. C. "Pilot study of prostate cancer-related hormones in U.S.-born, Jamaican, and Haitian black men."

2003 - 2004

Joe, A., Consedine, N. & Birchette, M. “The ‘African-American’grouping is a reasonably valid variable for conducting small-scale biological studies.”
Consedine, N., Ramirez, P, Borrell, L. & Joe, A. “Experimentally ascertained psychological responses to cancer threat and prostate screening behavior among African American, Jamaican, and European American men.”
DePass, L., Joseph, C., & Weinstein, I.B. “Anticancer potential of triterpene glycosides on African-American and Caucasian breast cancer.”
Sheinfeld-Gorin, Honda, K. & Castro-Blanco, D. “Social-cognitive determinants of colorectal cancer genetic testing among primary care providers in multi-ethnic communities.”

Pilot Studies and Full Projects funded under the U54

Projects (2003 - 2006)

Ramirez, P., Consedine, N. Magai, C & McKiernan, J. “Facilitators and barriers to prostate cancer screening in older African American and African Caribbean men.”
Rundel, A., Hagins, M. & Britton, J. “Assessment, development and validation of a physical activity questionnaire in three ethnic groups.”

Pilots (2003 - 2006)

Hershman, D., Haynes, J. “Ethnic neutropenia in African Americans and African Caribbeans”
Flowers, S, Sanderson, H., Patterson, G. E., Dropkin, M. O’Connor, T. & Gemson, D. “Cancer education track in post-Masters nursing program.”
Weinstein, B., Jensen, F., Mckoy, J. & Helmer, E. “A comparison of androgen receptor polymorphism in African American and Eastern European women with breast cancer.”
States, R., Jones, S., Becker, E., Nirenberg, A., Sheinfeld-Gorin, S. & Larson, E. “Cancer screening education for health care Students.”

Program Alert: Stay tuned to this website. A new pilot study and full project competition will be announced in the fall of 2005.

Shared Resources/Infrastructure

Recruitment Core

This Core is designed to facilitate recruitment of Brooklyn 's various ethnic groups for participation in research where population-based samples are required. It is particularly geared to sample African American and Caribbean peoples. In the context of this U54, we will differentiate among the five largest concentrations of Caribbeans in Brooklyn and Northern Manhattan: Haitians, Dominicans, and persons from the territories of the English speaking Caribbean (Jamaicans, Trinidadians, and Barbadians).

The primary aims of this Core are to:

Provide a resource to investigators who need a population-based sample of Brooklyn residents;
Eliminate redundancy of effort in accessing these unique populations;
Ensure comparability of data across studies; and
Ensure that good community relations are maintained over time.

Figure 1: Participant accrual in two U54 projects coordinated through shared Recruitment Core

Biostatistics Core

The Biostatistics Core was designed to draw on the biostatistics resources at the HICCC and Columbia University and to provide U54 investigators with statistical support in terms of (1) collaboration, (2) training and education, and (3) statistical leadership. The Core has been striving steadily towards these goals since the program began in Fall 2003 as well as using the opportunity to develop and submit statistical papers for publication.

Cheung, Y.K. (in press). Exact two-sample inference with missing data. Biometrics.

Joint Publications, Grants, & Training Accomplishments

Joint Publications

Chen, A., Conway, F., Neugut, A., Magai, C. & Macchia, R. (2004). Prostate-specific antigen, sex steroid hormones, and the insulin-like growth factor axis in U.S.-born Jamaican, and Haitian Black Men: A pilot study. Urology, 64, 522-527 .

Consedine, N. S., Magai, C., Conway, F., & Neugut, A. (2004). Obesity and awareness of obesity as risk factors for breast cancer among overweight women from six ethnic groups. Obesity Research, 12, 1680-1689.

Consedine, N. S., Magai, C. & Neugut, A. I. (2004). The contribution of emotional characteristics to breast cancer screening among women from six ethnic groups. Preventative Medicine, 38, 64-77 .

Consedine , N.S. , Magai, C., Spiller, R., Conway, F. & Neugut, A. (2004). Breast cancer knowledge and beliefs in subpopulations of African American and Caribbean women. American Journal of Health Behavior, 28, 260-271 .

Consedine, N. S., Magai, C., Krivoshekova, Y., Ryzewicz, L., & Neugut, A. I. (2004). Fear, anxiety, worry, and breast cancer screening behavior: A critical review. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, & Prevention, 13, 1-10.

Magai, C., Consedine , N.S. , Conway, F., Neugut, A. I. & Culver, C. (2004). Diversity matters: Unique populations of older women and breast cancer screening. Cancer, 100, 2300-2307.

Consedine, N. S., Magai, C., Horton, D., Neugut, A. I. & Gillespie, M. (In press). Health Belief Model factors in mammography screening: Testing for interactions among subpopulations of Caribbean women. Ethnicity & Disease.

Submitted Works

Berman, Y., Helmer, E., Tkalych, O., Gringut, S., Fiallo, A., & Karr, K. D. (in review). Evidence of the receptor for cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript (CART) in GH3 cells and bovine anterior pituitary.

Consedine, N. S., Horton, D., Magai, C., Gillespie, M., Makoni, S., & Kukafka, R. (under review). The emotional effects of framed messages among Black and White women: Utilizing cultural characteristics to advantage in health intervention.

Consedine, N. S., Horton, D., Magai, C., Makoni, S., Kukafka, R. (under review). Breast screening in response to gain, loss, and empowerment framed messages at 6 and 12 months: Testing the durability of message impact.

Consedine, N. S., Horton, D. Ungar, T., Joe, A., Ramirez, P., & Borrell, L. (under review). Fear, knowledge and efficacy beliefs differentially predict the frequency of DRE and PSA screening in samples of older men.

Consedine, N. S., Magai, C., King, A. R., & Arnold, K. (under review). Taking time seriously: Emotion psychophysiology across the lifespan.

Consedine, N. S., Morgenstern, A. H., Kudadjie-Gyamfi, E., Magai, C., & Neugut, A. I. (in revision). Prostate cancer screening behavior in men from seven ethnic groups: The fear factor.

Consedine, N. S., Magai, C., Ungar, T., Kaluk, J., Kudadjie-Gyamfi, E., & King, A. R. (under review). Stress versus negative emotion in the prediction of physical complaints: Are we accessing the same construct in diverse groups?

King, A. R., Magai, C., Consedine, N. S., Macchia, R. J., Adler, H. L., McKiernan, J. M., Goluboff, E. T., Stone, B. A., Samadi, D. B., & Neugut, A. I. (under review). Psychosocial correlates of PSA levels in men attending prostate cancer screening clinics.

Magai, C., Consedine, N. S., & Neugut, A. I. (under review). Common p sychosocial factors underlying breast cancer screening and breast cancer treatment adherence.

Magai, C., Consedine, N. S., Neugut, A. I., & Herschman, D. (under review). Psychosocial influences on sub-optimal adjuvant breast cancer treatment adherence among African American women: A proposition and prospect for research.

Matasar, M. J., Ritchie, E. K. Consedine, N. S., Magai, C., Neugut, A. I. (under review). Incidence rates of the major leukemia subtypes among U.S. Hispanics, blacks, and non-Hispanic Whites.

Ungar, T. M., Magai, C., Ramirez, P., & McKeirnan, J. (under review). Are self-reports of prostate cancer screening reliable? An analysis and recommendation.

Joint Conference Presentations

Adjei, B., Consedine, N. S. Horton, D., Ungar, T., Joe, A., Ramirez, P. & Borrell, L. (Nov, 2005). Fear, knowledge, and efficacy beliefs interact to predict DRE and PSA screening in ethnically diverse samples of older men. Paper to be presented in N. S. Consedine & K. Bowman (Chairs), Emotional and cognitive factors in prostate cancer: Screening, treatment and survivorship issues. Symposium presented at the 58 th Annual Meeting of the American Gerontological Society, New Orleans , LA.

DePass, A. & Stellman, S. (Feb, 2005). Long Island University/Columbia University Cancer Research Partnership. Poster presented at 14th Annual National Conference of the Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) Mathematics, Science, and Engineering (MSE) Network.

King, A.R., Magai, C., Macchia, R. J., Adler, H. L., Stone, B. A., Goluboff, E. T., McKiernan, J. M., & Samadi, D. (Feb, 2005). Correlates of prostate cancer screening in a multi-ethnic population. Paper presented at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Preventive Oncology, March 13-15, 2005 , San Francisco , CA .

Magai, C., Senie, R., Pierre-Louis, J. & Kudajie-Gyamfi, E. (June, 2005). African Americans and the genetic testing paradox: The disconnection between positive attitudes towards genetic testing for breast cancer and actual participation. A poster presented at the 9 th International Meeting on the Psychosocial Aspects of Genetic Testing for Hereditary Cancers. Philadelphia , PA.

Brown, W. M., Consedine, N. S., Magai, C., Neugut, A. I., & Conway, F. (Mar, 2004). Variations in breast cancer knowledge and misconceptions among subpopulations of African American and African Caribbean women. Poster presented at the 28 th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Preventive Oncology, Bethesda , MD.

Consedine, N. S., & Bonnano, G. A. (July, 2004). What are the costs and benefits of regulating emotions? Discussion Table hosted at the 13 th International Society for Research in Emotions Conference, New York , NY .

King, A. R., & Magai, C. (Feb, 2004). Benefit-finding and stress in older adult males. Paper presented at the 57 th Annual Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, November, 2004, Washington , D.C.

Consedine , N.S. , Horton, D., Makoni, S., Neugut, A. I. , & Magai, C. (Nov, 2003). The emotional effects of framed messages among Black and White women: Utilizing cultural characteristics to advantage in health intervention. Poster presented at the 1 st Annual MI/CCP Funded Investigators Workshop, Bethesda , MD.

Joint Submitted & Awarded Grant Applications

2005 - 2008
FUNDED . Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Center of Excellence Award . Racial disparities in the initiation and intensity of adjuvant therapy for breast cancer . PIs - A. Neugut (CU), D. Hershmann (CU), V. Grann (CU), Y. Tsai, & C. Magai (LIU).

2005 - 2007
FUNDED . Diversity Supplement to NIA Parent Grant . Ethnicity and socioemotional functioning in late life. PI - F. Conway, Mentor : C. Magai

2005-2006
FUNDED: Universities Occupational Health and Safety Education Research Center : Pilot Project Program. Initial examination of "raked" stages in theatrical productions: The effect on biomechanical variables during a jumping task. Co-PIs: M. Hagins (LIU), E. Pappas , A. Rundle (CU).

2005 - 2008 FUNDED Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS). Ethnic differences in emotion regulation and their impact on health: The special case of Caribbean Americans. PIs - N. Consedine (LIU), C. Magai (LIU), A. Neugut (CU), and Co-Investigator, S. Lepore (CU).

2005 - 2008
FUFDEDED Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS). Oral cavity/pharynx cancer recovery in African Americans. PI - MJ Dropkin (LIU), Co-PIs N. Consedine (LIU), C. Magai (LIU), . S. Manolidis (CU), A. Nirenberg (LIU), Co-Investigators, E. Kudadjie-Gyamfi (LIU) and H. Sanderson (LIU).

2005-2008
PENDING: National Cancer Institute: Exploration of racial disparities in breast cancer treatment with a focus on Black populations in Brooklyn and New York City . PIs - A. Neugut (CU) & C. Magai (LIU).

2005-2007
PENDING: National Institute of General Medical Sciences : Minority Biomedical Research Support; Support of Continuous Research Excellence. Breath control during lifting tasks. Co-PIs (20% each): M. Hagins (LIU) & E. Lamberg.

2005-2007
PENDING: National Cancer Institute: Community networks to reduce cancer health disparities through education, research, and training. PIs - O. Carrasquillo, A. Neugut (CU), C. Magai (LIU), R. Macchia, & R. Browne.

Joint Training Accomplishments

As noted, a major aim of the U54 partnership is to leverage the expertise of Columbia University 's Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center in the ongoing training of minority students and scientists in both basic science and the practical aspects of grant development, presentation, and publication as well as a step towards developing the institutional environment.

DePass, A. (Jan, 2005). Novel anticancer agent DJ52 induces apoptosis in androgen-independent human prostate cancer cell line DU-146 by suppression of bcl-2 gene expression. Poster presented at American Association for Cancer Research, Regulation of Cell Death Oncogenesis, Hawaii .

DePass, A. (Apr, 2005). The combination of Cox-2 and EGF serve as potential prognostic biomarkers for hormone refractory prostate cancer. Poster presented at American Association for Cancer Research, Anaheim , CA .

Jean-Louis, M., Khan, D., Rothman, L., and States, R.A. (in press). Survey of content used to teach research in physical therapy curricula. Empire Physical Therapy Newsletter.

King, A. R ., Consedine, N. S., Magai, C., Ungar, T. Kaluk, J., Kudadjie-Gyamfi, E. (Nov, 2005). Stress and negative affect: How they relate to health in a multi-ethnic group of older males. Poster to be presented at the 58 th Annual Meeting of the American Gerontological Society, New Orleans , LA.

Ungar, T., Brown, W. M., Consedine, N. S. & Magai C. (Nov, 2005). The differential impact of acculturation on breast cancer screening in diverse groups of immigrant women. Paper presented in N. E. Schoenberg (Chair), Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Cancer Screening and Survivorship among Older Adults. Symposium to be presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Gerontological Society, New Orleans , LA

States, R.A., Rothman, L., Jean-Louis, M . and Khan, D. ( February 25, 2005 ). Research content differs for physical therapy programs that do or do not require student research projects. American Physical Therapy Association's Combined Sections Meeting . New Orleans , LA.

States, R.A., Jean-Louis, M., Khan, D. (under review). Teaching research: A survey of research content in entry-level physical therapist education programs

Ungar, T., Consedine, N. S., Morgenstern, A., Pierre-Louis, J . (Feb, 2005). Psychological characteristics and prostate cancer screening behavior in men from seven ethnic groups. Poster presented at the 29 th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Preventive Oncology, San Diego , CA .

Ungar, T ., Brown, W. M., Consedine, N. S., & Magai, C. (Nov, 2005). Altruism relates to health in an ethnically diverse sample of older adults. Poster to be presented at the 58 th Annual Meeting of the American Gerontological Society, New Orleans , LA.

DePass, A., Wilson, J., Moretti, N., & Haque, T. (Dec, 2004). Effect of a novel anticancer agent on angiogenesis in human prostate cancer cell line DU145. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology, Washington , D.C.

DePass, A. & Wilson, J. (Dec, 2004). Effect of a novel anticancer agent on angiogenesis in human prostate cancer cell line DU145. Poster presented at the Minority Affairs Mentoring Symposium Annual Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology, Washington. D.C.

Conway, F ., Magai, C., & Consedine, N. S. (Nov, 2003). Obesity and awareness of obesity as risk factors for breast cancer in six groups of minority women. Poster presented at the 56 th Annual Conference of the American Gerontological Society, San Diego , CA .

Consedine, N. S., Magai, C., & Conway, F . (Aug, 2002). Predicting ethnic variation in later life adaptation: Styles of socioemotional functioning and constrained heterotypy. Paper presented at the 110 th Annual Conference of the American Psychological Association, Chicago , IL .

Note: Names in bold denote minority trainees/faculty.

Institutional Development

A second aim of the U54 partnership has been to use to expertise and training offered in the collaboration as a means of accelerating the minority institution's research trajectory. Several accomplishments have been made towards this end and are listed in brief below.

In part because of the research impetus gained by LIU Biology's Dr. Anthony DePass in his collaborations with Columbia researchers and in recognition of his commitment to minority science training, Dr. DePass was recently promoted to Associate Dean of Research.
The diversity supplement submitted by previous P20 recipient Dr. Francine Conway on Dr. Magai's RO1 "Ethnicity and socioemotional functioning in late life" was recently funded by the NIA.
Ms. Brenda Adjei , LIU's U54 Administrator is using data gathered in the U54 Prostate Cancer Study to complete her dissertation.
Dr. Paul Ramirez , a U54 PI, was recently appointed Chair of LIU's Psychology Department for the Fall of 2005. Research support for faculty was a key aspect of his candidacy.
LIU researchers involved in the U54 collaboration have been given library privileges at Columbia , access to tissue banks, the right to apply for funding originating with Columbia , and have been granted membership in the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center .
Relatedly, the partnership has established a means of creating joint positions across the two institutions. These positions provide a research faculty appointment at LIU with a comparable appointment at Columbia and are intended to attract scientists to LIU. We have interviewed highly qualified individuals from John's Hopkins , Harvard Medical, NYU, and University of Alabama , some of who have substantial independent funding that we are looking to transfer to LIU. Dr. Rong LI (MD/PhD) was the first person to assume such a position.
The PIs at LIU have negotiated with the university administration for flexible policies regarding release time and indirect cost returns. Quarterly meetings are held between the U54 PIs and the university's financial officers.
We have developed a comprehensive means of internally assessing both the progress of both student and faculty trainees and the collaboration as a whole.
In July of 2004 and again in July 2005, groups of LIU students participating in the P20/U54 projects traveled to the NIH to meet scientists, tour laboratories, and learn about programs relevant to the development of research careers.
In November 2004, LIU hosted the annual conference of the Metropolitan Association of College and University Biologists. The conference was attended by over 600 faculty and students from more than 50 institutions across Connecticut , New York , New Jersey and Pennsylvania . Keynote speakers included Dr. Harold Varmus (Nobel prizewinner in medicine for the discovery of the cellular origin of retroviral oncogenes).
Funding from the Visiting Professors program administered by the American Society for Cell Biology was received for two minority faculty (Tony Nicolas from NYC College of Technology and Marva Butters from LIU) for summer support related to participation in U54/P20 related projects.

To summarize, the figures below show how the numbers of minority researchers and Departments are increasing across the years of U54 funding and how we are already seeing an impact on productivity.

Program Alert: Stay tuned to this website. A new pilot study and full project competition will be announced in the fall of 2005.