This Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the FDA Research program (CFDA 93.103) provides $747,418 in funding to The Beautywell Project located in St. Paul, Minnesota. The project aims to expand public awareness of skin-lightening practices and associated chemical exposures, while creating a framework to advance the wellbeing of impacted communities. Key activities include providing information through trusted community channels such as health...
This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.394 - Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research) provides $706,771 to the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute Hospital, Inc. to evaluate the impact of a precision prevention intervention on improving skin cancer prevention activities among diverse patients in low-resourced, community primary care settings. The 5-year study aims to (1) evaluate the effectiveness of the precision prevention intervention in improving...
This $880,887 Project Grant awarded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (CFDA 93.307 - Minority Health and Health Disparities Research) is for the development of a biobased, biodegradable, and inclusive sunscreen product. The project aims to produce and isolate the natural polyester poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) for sunscreen formulation, optimize particle and crystal sizes to improve UV light transmission and sensory acceptance, and design a sunscreen that...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), aims to address health disparities through the development of a quantitative physiological database and precision systems modeling. The key products and services to be delivered under this $588,900 award include: Development of the Underrepresented Population Drug Target Protein (UPDTP) database, which will capture the abundance of drug target...
The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) awarded a $272,365 Project Grant under the Minority Health and Health Disparities Research (CFDA 93.307) program to Million Marker Wellness Inc., a minority-owned small business, to develop a mobile application and education program called "MEET" (Mobile Environmental Exposure Tracking). The goal of this project is to provide minority-focused environmental health education and exposure tracking for topics...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, under the Minority Health and Health Disparities Research program (CFDA 93.307), supports the development of a "Hair Intelligence Platform" by Hairdays Inc. The platform will use artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing to assess hair product ingredients, generate insights on ingredient risks, and provide data-driven hair care recommendations to...
This federal Project Grant award, provided by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) under the Cancer Cause and Prevention Research program (CFDA 93.393), aims to characterize skin cancer-related communication on social media and develop effective prevention-focused messages for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) aged 15-20 years. The total funding amount is $542,724.00, awarded on September 3, 2024 with a project period through August 31, 2028. The project has three specific aims: 1) characterize...
This $2,490,060 Cooperative Agreement award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of the Director under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act Regulatory Research program (CFDA 93.077) supports research to optimize public health communication strategies on the continuum of risk for tobacco products. The project aims to assess the effects of FDA tobacco product risk continuum messaging on adult combustible tobacco users and youth/young adult tobacco users or...
This $957,600 Project Grant awarded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279), will support research conducted by Drexel University to develop a novel framework for community-directed tobacco harm reduction strategies targeting Black and Latinx adult sexual and gender minorities in Philadelphia. The key objectives are to: 1) identify multilevel drivers of tobacco use and motivations among this population through...
This Cooperative Agreement award from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the FDA Research program (CFDA 93.103) provides $500,000 in funding to the University of Connecticut Health Center (UCHC) to advance linguistic inclusion in clinical trials. The project aims to: 1) explore Spanish-speaking patients' perspectives, preferences, and barriers regarding clinical trial participation; 2) employ a participatory planning process to develop patient-informed outreach materials and...
DEVELOP AND EVALUATE A TARGETED EDUCATION CAMPAIGN IN NORTHERN MANHATTAN AND THE SOUTH BRONX TO PROTECT WEST AFRICAN, SOUTH ASIAN, AND LATINX POPULATIONS FROM HAZARDOUS SKIN LIGHTENING PRODUCTS. - PROJECT SUMMARY (30 LINES OF TEXT): THE PROPOSED PROJECT SEEKS TO DEVELOP EVIDENCE-BASED EDUCATION MATERIALS AND CULTURALLY-SPECIFIC DISSEMINATION STRATEGIES IN ORDER TO INCREASE AWARENESS ON THE USE OF AND POTENTIAL RISKS FROM SKIN LIGHTENING PRODUCTS AMONG VULNERABLE AND UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES. OUR PROPOSAL IS RELEVANT TO THE FDA'S MISSION OF PROTECTING PUBLIC HEALTH AND ENSURING THE SAFETY OF COSMETIC PRODUCTS, AND TO THE FDA OFFICE OF MINORITY HEALTH AND HEALTH EQUITY'S (OMHHE) COMMITMENT TO PROMOTE AND PROTECT THE HEALTH OF DIVERSE POPULATIONS THROUGH RESEARCH AND COMMUNICATION OF SCIENCE THAT ADDRESSES HEALTH DISPARITIES. THE PROJECT WILL DEVELOP AND TEST A COMMUNITY-BASED EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTION TARGETING SOUTH ASIAN, WEST AFRICAN AND LATINX POPULATIONS IN NORTHERN MANHATTAN AND THE SOUTH BRONX. IT WILL BE DESIGNED TO INCREASE AWARENESS ABOUT: (1) HEALTH RISKS OF HYDROQUINONE, MERCURY, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES COMMONLY FOUND IN SKIN LIGHTENERS; (2) UPSTREAM SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DRIVERS OF SKIN LIGHTENING USE, INCLUDING COLORISM; (3) STRATEGIES FOR INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE ACTION TO AVOID TOXIC EXPOSURES AND ENSURE SAFER BEAUTY PRODUCTS. THE AIMS OF THE EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTION AND SUBSEQUENT EVALUATION ARE CONSISTENT WITH THE AIMS OF THE FOA, TO: (1) BETTER UNDERSTAND PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS ABOUT SKIN LIGHTENING PRODUCTS, THROUGH DISCUSSIONS WITH CBOS AND PARTICIPANT SURVEYS, (2) IDENTIFY AND PROVIDE INFORMATION NEEDED FOR INDIVIDUALS TO MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS AND/OR TAKE ACTION, IN TERMS OF READING LABELS, AVOIDING DANGEROUS PRODUCTS, AND REPORTING BANNED PRODUCTS TO AUTHORITIES INCLUDING THE FDA, (3) AND DEVELOP KEY MESSAGES FOR COMMUNICATIONS, THOUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE EDUCATIONAL MODULE. OUR CORE TEAM AND PARTNERS, WITH DECADES OF COMBINED EXPERIENCE ENGAGING WITH DISADVANTAGED AND UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES ON ISSUES OF TOXIC EXPOSURES AND TOXIC COSMETICS, INCLUDING SKIN LIGHTENERS, ARE WELL-SUITED TO ENGAGE WITH COMMUNITIES AND TO DEVELOP, EVALUATE, AND SUBSEQUENTLY REFINE MESSAGING DESIGNED TO INFORM AND PROTECT WOMEN FROM TOXIC SKIN LIGHTENING PRODUCTS. WE WILL ACHIEVE THESE AIMS THROUGH THE FOLLOWING AIMS: (1) DEVELOP AN EDUCATIONAL MODULE, BASED ON THE FORMAT OF WE ACT'S EXISTING ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND JUSTICE LEADERSHIP TRAINING PROGRAM (EHJLT), DESIGNED TO PROVIDE COMMUNITY MEMBERS WITH STRATEGIES TO RECOGNIZE BANNED SKIN LIGHTENER PRODUCTS AND AVOID THEM AS WELL AS TO TAKE ACTION TO REPORT THEM; (2) DEVELOP A TRAIN-THE-TRAINER GUIDE TO SUPPLEMENT THE EHJLT MODULE, AND CONDUCT A TRAIN-THE-TRAINER PROCESS WITH STAFF MEMBERS AT THREE SELECTED COMMUNITY GROUPS SERVING SOUTH ASIAN, WEST AFRICAN AND LATINX POPULATIONS IN NORTHERN MANHATTAN AND THE SOUTH BRONX (WITH MATERIALS TRANSLATED APPROPRIATELY FOR ALL THREE GROUPS); (3) DELIVER THE MODULE VIA THE NEWLY TRAINED CBO STAFF TO ABOUT 20 PARTICIPANTS DRAWN FROM EACH CBO'S GRASSROOTS CONSTITUENCY (60 PARTICIPANTS TOTAL); (4) EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE INTERVENTION; (5) REVISE THE INTERVENTION IN RESPONSE TO PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK, AND DISSEMINATE THE MODULE AND OUR FINDINGS VIA A REPORT AND A DEDICATED LANDING PAGE ON THE WE ACT WEBSITE.