Cancer Control

The department’s Cancer Control program has continued to grow.  Our faculty members are engaged in ground-breaking research to promote cancer screening, in particular screening for breast and colorectal cancer.

Our Cancer Control research program incorporates health services research, epidemiology, qualitative methods, and innovative intervention design.  All of these are used to further our understanding of barriers to cancer screening and to craft innovative cancer prevention strategies.  Our researchers are using cutting edge technology to deliver computerized tailored messaging to encourage engagement in discussions about colon cancer screening between patient and providers in both rural and urban-core primary care settings.

Theoretically-based strategies to promote preventive health behaviors by faculty engaged in Cancer Control work are carefully developed within multidisciplinary teams.  Our faculty collaborate with investigators in the Internal and Family Medicine Departments as well as with faculty in the Breast Center and Gastroenterology.  Cancer Prevention and Control faculty also engage in collaborative efforts with investigators from other local higher education institutions such as Haskell Indian Nations University and the KU campus in Lawrence.  Furthermore, our research in this area is strengthened by close working relationships between research teams working alongside practicing health care providers.

Investigators are focusing their efforts on particularly hard to reach and medically underserved populations such as people who make the inner city their home, those with low incomes, and those residing in remote rural Kansas communities.  Our faculty are serving people from the region who come from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds including Native American/Native Indian, Hispanic, and African American heritage.

The Department offers several cancer-related educational opportunities including Masters of Public Health Courses and seminars.  Courses in which cancer topics are interwoven include Cancer Epidemiology, Environmental Health, the Clinical and Translational Research Seminar, Tobacco and Public Health, and Social and Behavioral Aspects of Health.

Departmental work to combat cancer extends beyond the research and educational realms as many of our faculty actively engage in cancer-related service activities at the national and local level.  Examples of this service include serving as reviewers for peer reviewed scientific journals, participating in committees such as the Wyandotte County Breast Cancer Prevention Committee, the national Society of Behavioral Medicine Cancer Special Interest Group Steering Committee, the Kansas Cancer Institute's Protocol, Review and Monitoring Committee, and reviewing grants for funding agencies including the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute.  Through their dedication to scientifically sound research, teaching excellence, and service, our well rounded Cancer Prevention and Control faculty members are making a difference in the lives of people.

Program Faculty

• Kimberly Engelman, PhD (Program Leader)
• Lisa Cox, PhD
• Paula Cupertino, PhD
• Christine Daley, PhD, MA, SM
• Edward Ellerbeck, MD, MPH
• K. Allen Greiner, MD, MPH (Adjunct Faculty)
• Sue Min Lai, PhD, MBA
• Nicole Nollen, PhD
• Kimber Richter, PhD, MPH

Research Team

• Linda Jianas, BA
• Trish Long, PA
• Kristine Keller, BA
• Lisa McClain, Ed.S.