Community Outreach and Engagement

PROJECT SUMMARY COMMUNITY OUTREACH & ENGAGEMENT Moffitt Cancer Center (Moffitt) serves West Central Florida, a 15-county region of 6.1 million residents. Moffitt covers a large, mainly urban, geographic area with a population mirroring the U.S. in race/ethnicity, foreign-born status, and Spanish language preference. Recognizing the need to formalize, harmonize, and expand the scope of our longstanding commitment to serve the community, Moffitt established the Office of Community Outreach & Engagement (COE) in 2018 under the leadership of Associate Center Director (ACD) of COE, Susan Vadaparampil, PhD, MPH, MHSE. Moffitt patient and community-focused advisory boards (CABs), in combination with catchment area geography, sociodemographic characteristics, and vulnerable populations, are foundational to COE’s organizational and engagement structure. Community-defined needs include cancer prevention and screening, access to care, clinical trials education, and a focus on populations experiencing differences in cancer-related health outcomes. Further, compared to Florida and the United States, there is a higher incidence of lung, melanoma of the skin, ovarian, oropharynx, and cervix cancers in the catchment area, as well as poor uptake of health behaviors that reduce risk of these cancers (e.g., smoking cessation). COE rigorously evaluated the intersection of community needs, cancer burden, and related risk factors. In collaboration with the CABs, catchment area priorities were developed to reduce the burden of cancers that are tobacco-related, caused by ultraviolet exposure, amenable to screening modalities for genetic risk or early detection, preventable by preemptive immunity, and/or that have excess mortality in vulnerable populations. Collectively, COEE activities that address these priorities are organized into three Specific Aims: Aim 1: To assess, prioritize, and monitor catchment area needs across the cancer continuum. Aim 2: To catalyze innovative research and clinical trials responsive to catchment area priorities. Aim 3: To accelerate the adoption of evidence-based practices through outreach, partnerships, and policy to address catchment area priorities. COE efforts have led to highly impactful catchment area-relevant science in all five research Programs. For example, COE created two community-engaged pilot grant mechanisms that funded eight studies between 2018-2020. COE also supported the opening of Moffitt’s first clinical trial for Persons Living with HIV, a vulnerable population in our catchment area. Importantly, from 2016-2020, Moffitt provided over 8,000 free cancer screenings and cancer education to over 56,000 community members. Finally, a key example of our policy efforts is work that led to the coverage of cutting-edge CAR T-cell therapy by Medicare. In summary, COE has rapidly become an integral part of the community and Moffitt’s culture through a community engagement structure that is built upon mutual trust and respect. Going forward, this exceptional foundation will allow Moffitt to work with our community to effectively reduce cancer burden in our catchment area and beyond.