Changes in Knowledge of HPV, Cervical Cancer, PAP Smears, and Attitudes Towards HPV vaccination from a Community-Based Intervention for Latinas

Purpose/Background: Latinas are 20% less likely to receive the HPV vaccine and, in Idaho, are 35% more likely to die of cervical cancer than non-Latinas -16.2/100,000 in Latinas vs. 7.6/100,000 non-Latinas-. Research indicates that this disparity is due to low health literacy, and barriers of language, culture, and poverty. This project’s purpose was to assess the efficacy of a community-based intervention designed to increase rural Idaho Latina health literacy about cervical cancer prevention and detection, about the Women\u27s Health Check program, and to assess participant attitudes towards child HPV vaccination. Materials & Methods: Investigators trained six bilingual Latinas from rural SE Idaho as promotoras. Project investigators and promotoras created videos in English and in Spanish providing information about cervical cancer prevention, detection, treatment, the HPV vaccine, and the Women\u27s Health Check Program. The promotoras identified Latina participants (n=44) from their communities, delivered educational materials in participant homes and at schools, and administered pre and post video surveys to assess changes in knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of cervical cancer, the Pap test, and the HPV vaccine. Participants, who were all Latinas, chose either English or Spanish language materials. Results: 50% chose English and 50% chose Spanish language materials.100% of intervention completers (n=44, 18-70+ years), showed increases in knowledge of cervical cancer, the Pap Test, HPV vaccine and the Women\u27s Health Check Program. Pre-intervention, 25% did not know that there was a vaccine for HPV, 18% had not heard of cervical cancer, and 44% had not heard about the Women\u27s Health Check Program. Post intervention knowledge for these items was a 100%. With regard to intention to vaccinate for HPV, “How likely are you to get your child the HPV vaccine?” -- a 7 point LIKERT scale question with lower numbers reflecting more positive intention ---there was a significant mean difference in the total sample at pre (M = 2.07, SD = 1.44) and post (M = 1.23, SD = 0.53), F (1, 41) = 14.39, p \u3c .001. Language choice (proxy for acculturation) was not a significant factor in intent to vaccinate F(1, 41) = 0.30, p = .588. Although not statistically significant, Spanish speakers showed a larger change in intention to vaccinate with mean scores of 2.14 to 1.18 compared to English speakers 2.00 to 1.41. Discussion/Conclusion: All participants demonstrated increases in knowledge and intention to vaccinate. Results indicate that there was a significant movement in the report of increased intention to vaccinate children for HPV. The project shows that Latinas in rural SE Idaho lack knowledge of cervical cancer prevention and detection including the role of the HPV vaccine in the prevention of cervical and other associated cancers. Language choice indicates continued need for bilingual health education. Data shows that a community-based, bilingual intervention is effective in this community

The Integrating Community Engaged Learning through Ethical Reflection (ICELER) Faculty Learning Community Theory of Change and Learning Goals, Years 1-4

This document presents the final ICELER theory of change, including annually generated FLC goals that were part of a multi-year institutional transformation grant #1737157 entitled Institutional Transformation: Enhancing IUPUI STEM Curriculum through the Community-Engaged Learning and Ethical Reflection Framework (I-CELER)National Science Foundation Grant#1737157 STEM Education Innovation and Research Institute IUPUI Center for Service and Learnin

GA4GH: International policies and standards for data sharing across genomic research and healthcare.

The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) aims to accelerate biomedical advances by enabling the responsible sharing of clinical and genomic data through both harmonized data aggregation and federated approaches. The decreasing cost of genomic sequencing (along with other genome-wide molecular assays) and increasing evidence of its clinical utility will soon drive the generation of sequence data from tens of millions of humans, with increasing levels of diversity. In this perspective, we present the GA4GH strategies for addressing the major challenges of this data revolution. We describe the GA4GH organization, which is fueled by the development efforts of eight Work Streams and informed by the needs of 24 Driver Projects and other key stakeholders. We present the GA4GH suite of secure, interoperable technical standards and policy frameworks and review the current status of standards, their relevance to key domains of research and clinical care, and future plans of GA4GH. Broad international participation in building, adopting, and deploying GA4GH standards and frameworks will catalyze an unprecedented effort in data sharing that will be critical to advancing genomic medicine and ensuring that all populations can access its benefits

An analysis regarding energy efficiency in metro Atlanta's private office buildings

Commercial office building occupants are a significant consumer of electricity, and they subsequently contribute a significant amount of greenhouse gases into the environment in the process. An opportunity exists to improve the energy efficiency in existing buildings, and the Energy Star certification program provides both tools to do so and an independent verification of a building's superior energy efficiency. However, only 16% of metro Atlanta's office space has achieved this certification. The intent of the research was to identify the current state of energy efficiency in buildings, and to identify potential obstacles to obtaining the Energy Star certification. Towards this goal, secondary research was conducted among prominent academic journals, as well as numerous professional and governmental organizations and publications. Primary research was conducted through an online survey of Facility Managers, Property Managers, and Building Engineers of Energy Star office buildings and comparable non-Energy Star office buildings in the metro Atlanta area. The survey was conducted mostly using closed-ended questions using a Likert scale so as to provide a basis for statistical analysis among responses, and open-ended questions were also included to identify the current state of energy efficiency practices. The research identified three areas which hold statistically significant differences between Energy Star and directly comparable buildings. An analysis also determined that building age does seem to play a role in the building representatives' responses. Four conclusions were found regarding characteristics of Energy Star buildings themselves. The research also identified five conclusions regarding the expected result when pursuing the Energy Star certification. These conclusions include the best method to achieve the Energy Star certification, the expected energy savings, the expected time spent to achieve the certification, the expected cost to achieve the certification, and the main reasons to recertify the building. Finally, this research highlights innovative practices in other states and cities, such as financial incentives and legislation which require commercial buildings to obtain a building rating. Such innovative practices are currently not employed in the Atlanta metro area, but would be beneficial to both the Atlanta area and individual buildings.M.S.Committee Chair: Kathy Roper; Committee Member: Daniel Castro-Lacouture; Committee Member: Linda Thomas-Moble

The Integrated Community-Engaged Learning and Ethical Reflection (ICELER) Faculty Learning Community Curriculum: 2018-2022

The Integrated Community-Engaged Learning and Ethical Reflection (ICELER) project was funded under the NSF’s Cultivating Cultures for Ethical STEM program (Award #1737157) in 2017 as a five-year institutional transformation grant (see Fore et al., 2018). The ICELER project approaches institutional transformation in teaching and learning on multiple levels including individual and departmental. To effect changes at these two levels, the research team used a faculty learning community (FLC) as a core intervention in the project. This document provides background information on the curriculum used in this FLC, including descriptions of the design features and activities. This report includes an appendices section as well that includes sample assignments and tools used over the four years that the FLC was active. This report is intended as a resource for those interested in learning from, replicating, or adapting it for their own work with faculty.National Science Foundation, Award #173715

Finding useful data across multiple biomedical data repositories using DataMed

The value of broadening searches for data across multiple repositories has been identified by the biomedical research community. As part of the NIH Big Data to Knowledge initiative, we work with an international community of researchers, service providers and knowledge experts to develop and test a data index and search engine, which are based on metadata extracted from various datasets in a range of repositories. DataMed is designed to be, for data, what PubMed has been for the scientific literature. DataMed supports Findability and Accessibility of datasets. These characteristics - along with Interoperability and Reusability - compose the four FAIR principles to facilitate knowledge discovery in today’s big data-intensive science landscape