The goal of the TREND Partnership pilot research project is to support and encourage Early Stage Investigators (ESI) in developing translational tobacco disparities research projects. The Pilot Research Project provides ESIs funding, mentoring and support on a CCNY-MSKCC collaborative translational tobacco-related disparities pilot research project.
Racial Differences in Attentional Bias and Cue Reactivity to Smoking-Related Cues among Smokers
Lesia Ruglass, CCNY and James Root, MSKCC
The goal of this pilot project is to examine racial differences in a spectrum of psychophysiological cue reactivity characteristics that are likely to contribute to tobacco-related disparities. Findings from this study will contribute to the development of a larger examination of cue reactivity that will help to guide prevention and intervention strategies designed to reduce racial tobacco disparities. We hypothesize that alterations in cue reactivity develop early in cue processing and that this finding will be heightened in Blacks compared to Whites, explaining heightened craving levels in response to smoking-related cues and less successful quit attempts in Blacks. The specific aim of the pilot project is: Aim 1: To examine psychophysiological and behavioral differences in cue reactivity between Black and White smokers. We anticipate that Black smokers will: H1: Exhibit larger P300 (ERP) response to smoking related cues than White smokers; H2: Exhibit a larger SCR response to smoking related cues than White smokers; H3: Exhibit longer reaction times to smoking related cues than White smokers; and H4: Will report greater craving levels than White smokers before and after the experimental sessions. Cue reactivity is a well-established and theoretically grounded construct strongly associated with the craving, tobacco consumption, and relapse to smoking. This study applies a well-established construct to the study of racial differences.
Examining Narratives of Racial/Ethnic Minority Head and Neck Cancer Survivors
Marlene Camacho-Rivera (CCNY) and Smita Banerjee (MSKCC)
While past research has examined the utility of cancer survivors’ stories in encouraging preventive behaviors among the general population, and for helping individuals diagnosed with cancer cope with treatment anxiety and decision making, no study has yet examined the utility of cancer survivor stories in helping survivors transition into survivorship, particularly in racial/ethnic minority cancer survivors. The rationale for this research is that by gaining a better understanding of challenges faced by racial/ethnic minority HNC survivors, this exploratory research will lead to the development of a narrative video pilot study of SA/AA HNC survivors and will include messages around SLT and tobacco use, as well as possibly coping mechanisms and behaviors to help with transitioning into survivorship. Our Specific Aims are: 1. To elicit personal experiences with SLT and smoked tobacco use and identify themes around survivorship among 12 African American and 12 South Asian HNC survivors through in-depth narrative interviews. 2. To utilize data collected via in-depth interviews as preliminary data in the submission of an R03 grant to be able to inform the development of a video narrative pilot study of SA/AA HNC survivors. 3. To publish two manuscripts around survivorship issues identified by SA/AA HNC survivors, one with an explicit focus on the SLT and/or tobacco related behaviors.
