SFSU-UCSFCCC Partnership Program - UCSF Helen Diller Family ...

Partnership Co-PIs
Bruce Macher, PhD, SFSU
Mack Roach III, MD, UCSFCCC
Tung Nguyen, MD, UCSFCCC
CMBB Program Director
Peter Ogunbiyi, DMV, PhD
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Program Steering Committee
Lawrence Alfred, PhD
Joan Bloom, PhD
Mona Fouad, MD, MPH
Carlos Gutierrez, PhD
Bruce Macher, PhD
William Nelson, MD, PhD
Tung Nguyen, MD
Peter Ogunbiyi, DMV, PhD
Sally Rankin, RN, PhD, FNP
Mack Roach, III, MD, FACR
Elba Serrano, PhD
Outreach Coordinators
Mariana Ferreira, PhD, SFSU
Marcus Penn, MD, UCSFCCC
Program Coordinators
Maral Cingoz, SFSU
Mai Thanh/Millie Chan, UCSFCCC
SFSU Co-Leaders
Clifford Berkman, PhD
Mary Beth Love, PhD
Lena Zhang, PhD
UCSFCCC Co-Leaders
Jack Youngren, PhD
Tung Nguyen, MD
Rene Salazar, MD
Sections
Partnership Overview………. 1
New PSC Chair…………. ….1
Drs. Bloom & Serrano……… 2
New Pilot Projects………... 2-3
Outreach.……………………3
Seed Project………………… 4
Cancer Education…………… 4
Project Updates…………….. 5
Year 4 Timeline…………….. 5
For further information:
Maral Cingoz (415) 405-3767
http://cc.ucsf.edu/u56/index.html
SFSU-UCSFCCC
Partnership Program
Funded by the National Cancer Institute
Spring 2006
SFSU-UCSFCCC Partnership Program
San Francisco State University and the University of California, San Francisco
Comprehensive Cancer Center share a Cooperative Grant for a Minority Serving
Institution/Comprehensive Cancer Center Partnership from the National Cancer
Institute (NCI) under the U56 mechanism.
The aims of the SFSU-UCSFCCC collaboration are: to increase cancer research
capabilities at SFSU, a minority-serving institution; to increase the number of minority
scientists engaged in cancer research; to reduce the disparities in cancer incidence,
treatment, and survival among minority populations in the San Francisco Bay Area; to
increase accrual of underrepresented minorities into clinical trials through community
outreach; and to improve mortality and morbidity in minority populations who are
served by the Cancer Center.
Now in its fourth year, the program includes pilot projects researching NDGA analogs
and breast cancer; training lay health care workers in screening colorectal cancer among
Chinese Americans in San Francisco, and developing a culturally appropriate colorectal
cancer educational video for Latinos. The program incorporates community outreach
and education as well as minority faculty development activities.
The SFSU-UCSFCCC Partnership will miss Sherry Stork, UCSFCCC Program
Coordinator, who has moved on to the University of California, Davis. Her former
duties will be shared by Dr. Marcus Penn (Outreach), Mai Thanh (Grants
Administration), and Millie Chan (Administration).
Dr. Fouad is the new Chair of the PSC
After three years of exemplary service, Dr. Carlos Gutierrez is stepping down from his
position as PSC Chair, a role which will now be filled by Dr. Mona Fouad. Dr. Gutierrez
will continue his involvement in the program as a member of the PSC. We thank him for
his service and leadership.
Dr. Fouad joined the PSC of the SFSU-UCSFCCC Partnership Program in Fall 2004.
Her expertise managing large programs that address both ethnic health disparities and
community outreach has helped our Partnership tremendously.
An Associate Professor of Preventative Medicine at the University of Alabama at
Birmingham (UAB), Dr. Fouad has led a distinguished career of leadership in research,
education, and community service, and was named founding director of the UAB
Minority Health and Research Center. She is an active clinical researcher and serves as
Principal Investigator on more than $40 million in federal research grants. Dr. Fouad’s
research focuses on disease prevention and improving the health of minority
populations. She is the PI on UABCCC’s NCI P20 Planning Grant with Tuskegee
University to study health disparities impacting the African American community. She
was recently honored as the recipient of UAB’s Odessa Woolfolk Award for Community
Service in recognition of her outstanding service to the UAB community.
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Joan Bloom, PhD
Drs. Bloom and Serrano join the PSC
Two New Pilot Projects
Pilot Project 1. Lay Health Workers & Colorectal Cancer
Screening among Chinese Americans in San Francisco
Dr. Mary Beth Love (SFSU) and Dr. Tung Nguyen (USCFCCC) are the co-leaders of
this new pilot project. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related
deaths and the fourth most common cancer in the United States. Among Chinese
men and women in California, it is the second and third leading cancer in mortality
and incidence, respectively. The project builds upon the potential of lay health
workers as ideal health educators in minority communities where they know the
barriers specific to the community based on life experiences, possess culturally
appropriate knowledge and skills, and have earned the trust of the community due to
their presence within it.
Over the last 6 months, the project leaders have collected focus group information
on barriers to colorectal cancer screening among Chinese men and women in San
Francisco. They have created a training program in Chinese for lay health workers
including a flipchart, a manual, and pre- and post-intervention participant surveys.
They are in now the process of finalizing the training program. Recruitment of lay
health workers will begin in February after the Chinese New Year.
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Elba Serrano, PhD
Dr. Bloom is a Professor of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. She received a BS from the University
of California, Berkeley and a MA in Sociology and Ph.D. in Sociology of Education from Stanford University. Her
research interests include psycho-social interventions to prevent, encourage early diagnosis, and improve the quality of
lives of individuals with chronic disease (e.g. cancer, diabetes, cardiac disease, and chronic mental illness). Current
projects include risk notification of men at high risk for prostate and breast cancer; ten year follow-up of young breast
cancer survivors, and a physical activity intervention.
Dr. Serrano is an Associate Professor of Biology at New Mexico State University. She received a BS from the University
of Rochester in Physics and a PhD from Stanford University in biological sciences, with a specialization in biophysics and
neurosciences. Dr. Serrano is investigating the restoration or regeneration of sensory inner ear cells after damage or
trauma, using a multidisciplinary approach that draws from biophysics, anatomy, tissue culture and molecular biology. Dr.
Serrano is recognized for her extensive student and faculty mentoring activities and has delivered invited presentations on
the mentoring of women and minorities at various national conferences. She is an active participant of the Hispanic
Association for Colleges and Universities (HACU)-sponsored Health Sciences Advisory Council. In addition to her
strong basic science background, Dr. Serrano brings to the PSC a sophisticated awareness of what is required to mentor
young scientists and first-hand knowledge of national advocacy efforts in the health sciences.
Mary Beth Love, PhD
Tung Nguyen, MD

Pilot Project 2. Development of a Culturally Appropriate
Colorectal Cancer Educational Video for Latinos
Dr. Lena Zhang (SFSU) and Rene Salazar (USCFCCC) are the co-leaders of this
new pilot project which will to develop and test a culturally-tailored educational
colorectal cancer screening video for Latino patients. Colorectal cancer is an
important health problem among Latinos.
The first focus group has been conducted and the project leaders are currently
analyzing and developing the content for the video script, which they expect to
refine in February for filming in March. After videotaping the initial segments, they
will conduct additional rounds of focus groups over the summer to assist them in
further refining the video. Their goal is to have the final product ready for pilot
testing in the Winter/Spring of 2007.
Partnership Outreach Activities
Reduce Ethnic Disparities through Universities and Communities
Empowerment (REDUCE) Cancer Outreach Program
Outreach Director: Tung Nguyen, MD UCSFCCC
Outreach Coordinator: Marcus Penn, MD UCSFCCC
Outreach Coordinator: Mariana Ferreira, PhD SFSU
Latino Outreach Coordinator: Rene Salazar, MD UCSFCCC
The U56 partnership’s outreach program, REDUCE (Reducing Ethnic Disparities through
Universities and Communities Empowerment), has been active during the last 12 months. The
goals of the program are to establish collaborations between UCSF, SFSU, and minority
communities, to assess community needs regarding cancer, to provide cancer awareness and
prevention education, to assist members of minority communities in gaining access to UCSF for
clinical evaluation and treatment for cancer, to encourage ethnic minority students to consider
careers in cancer control, and to integrate students in outreach activities.
The REDUCE Cancer Outreach Program has greatly benefited from the addition of Dr. Leticia
Márquez-Magaña, Professor in Biology at SFSU, as Student Outreach Coordinator. Another key
addition is Dr. René Salazar, Assistant Professor in General Internal Medicine at UCSF, as Latino
Outreach Coordinator. He has extensive experience in medical student and medical resident
mentoring and interest in cancer prevention in Latino populations. A third important addition is
Dr. Mariana Ferreira, Assistant Professor in Anthropology, as SFSU Outreach Coordinator. Dr.
Ferreira’s community-based participatory research focuses on the Native American and Latino
communities.
A centerpiece of the REDUCE Cancer Outreach Program is its program of mini-grants. During
the past year, eighteen mini-grant proposals were submitted for projects addressing cancer
prevention, thirteen of which were funded. Evaluation criteria for these grants included
feasibility, appropriateness to U56 Program goals, and applicant potential for future work in the
field of cancer control for minorities. Other factors considered in the review process included
student involvement, coalition development, and potential to partner with similar outreach
efforts within the UCSFCCC.
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Lena Zhang, PhD
Rene Salazar, MD
Leticia Márquez-
Magaña, PhD
Mariana Ferreira, PhD
Marcus Penn, MD

Seed Project: Increasing Minority Participation in
Spanish/English Internet Stop Smoking Trials
Dr. Sacha Bunge (SFSU) and Dr. Ricardo Munoz (UCSFCCC) are the co-leaders of this
seed project which has trained three students from SFSU’s Career Opportunities in
Research Program in administering and testing bilingual smoking intervention trials.
The three U56 students contributed to the final feature and functionality testing of the
Internet Health Research Center: Smoking, Latinos and Web’s latest randomized trial. In
addition to learning about developing on-line smoking cessation studies in both Spanish
and English, the students have gained specific knowledge on CBT smoking cessation
interventions and issues related to their delivery to different subsets of the population.
Since its launch, the Center has randomized over 1,200 participants from around the
world. The students have gained experience in conducting structured phone interviews
and obtained a deeper understanding of outcome data collection and attrition rates. Onemonth
follow-up interviews are currently in progress for the 500 Spanish-speaking
participants in the study. More than 350 of the original participants (71%) have
completed the follow-up to date with the assistance of the U56 students.
Utilizing the projects datasets, the students have completed their initial research
proposals and outlines for their end-of-year project, and have begun to analyze the data.
They continue to develop critical thinking skills, and have demonstrated a strong
commitment and determination to accomplish their goals.
Cancer Education
HED 330: Health Disparities in Cancer
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Sacha Bunge, PhD
Ricardo Munoz, PhD
One substantive contribution the U56 has made to increasing student interest in cancer careers has been the
creation of a course in cancer health disparities. Drs. Leticia Márquez-Magaña and Tung Nguyen developed
an upper division course in Health Education entitled “Health Disparities in Cancer.” This course was
offered at SFSU in the Fall 2005 and had an enrollment of fifteen students, 12 of whom were from ethnic
minority backgrounds. Nine of the students (60%) were post-baccalaureate or Master’s students interested in
pursuing advanced training in a health care profession or becoming biomedical researchers. Several of the
undergraduates were also interested in health education. Drs. Márquez-Magaña and Nguyen worked with the
students to cultivate their interest in cancer related fields. Guest lecturers included key members of the U56
partnership (Mack Roach, Mariana Ferreira, Rena Pasick) as well as cancer advocates, survivors, and other
researchers. Efforts have been initiated to codify HED 330 as a General Education course at SFSU so that it
can be counted toward the graduation requirements of all students enrolled in future offerings, regardless of
their majors. As a result, it is expected that class enrollment will significantly increase in the future.

Updates
On-going Pilot Project. NDGA analogs and breast cancer
Co-leaders Drs. Cliff Berkman (SFSU) and Jack Youngren (UCSFCCC)
Dr. Berkman and Dr. Youngren are completing their evaluation of a first generation library of NDGA analogs.
Preliminary experiments have revealed the important of chemical features of these analogs for the inhibition of the
IGF-1R and cell proliferation of breast cancer cells. The project leaders have also identified a promising second
generation analog that possesses enhanced inhibition potency against IGF-1R.
Completed Project 1. U56 Nursing Training and Outreach
Co-leaders Drs. Charlotte Ferretti (SFSU) and Joycelyn Speight (UCSFCCC)
This project was successful at all levels and has received significant funding for continuation and expansion. In
October 2004, The California Wellness Foundation awarded SFSU $210,000 under its Workforce Diversity Initiative
to support twelve new students in the project over the next three years. A congressional earmark of $375,000 to
SFSU will provide support for twelve additional students.
Completed Pilot Project 2. Quality of Life among Breast Cancer Survivors
from Diverse Populations
Co-leaders Drs. Grace Yoo, Ellen Levine (SFSU) and Cheryl Ewing, Caren Aviv (UCSFCCC
The U56 mechanism and partnership enabled this team of researchers to develop a RIMI subproject proposal that
was funded in 2003 and was subsequently expanded to support a survey of at least 200 breast cancer survivors from
various communities. More than 120 individuals have participated in the project to date. Preliminary results of the
study show that the type of social support used differed at diagnosis, during treatment, and after treatment among
individuals from different groups. This study will continue to receive RIMI funding through 2008.
Completed Pilot Project 3. Synthesis & Evaluation of a Small Library of Phosphorus-
Containing Inhibitors of PSMA
Co-leaders Drs. Clifford Berkman (SFSU) and Charles Craik, Kip Guy UCSFCCC
This project developed and tested a library of putative inhibitors of the enzyme, prostate specific membrane antigen
(PSMA), leading to a subsequent award to Dr. Berkman from the DOD (Inhibitor-Directed Imaging of Prostate
Cancer, DOD/PCRP PC051060, from 9/15/05-2/15/07 for $112,469). The overall objective of the DOD project is
to elaborate the design of competitive PSMA inhibitors to selectively deliver fluorescent terbium ions Tb(III) to
prostate cancer cells so that the prostate cancer cells expressing PSMA will be selectively labeled with fluorescent
inhibitors and consequently detectable by fluorescence microscopy.
Year Four Timeline
January 31, 2006 Call for Collaborative Proposals for a U54 Application
February 15, 2006 Call for Mini-grants Application
March 30, 2006 Deadline for the Collaborative Proposals
April 17, 2006 Mini-grants Application Due
April 30, 2006 Annual Non-Competing Renewal Deadline
June 1, 2006 Decision of the Collaborative Proposals Announced
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