Abstract PO-041: A framework for transformed community-academic partnerships to reduce cancer disparities

To meaningfully impact cancer disparities, scientists and community need to work differently together. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) offers a strong first step but in practice often falls short of its full potential. The Community Cancer Science Network (CCSN) is an initiative of the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center to address breast and lung cancer disparities statewide. This initiative began with a three-year study and design team process which identified a need for academic medicine and community to come together to address disparities in Wisconsin. A design team made up of basic and population science researchers, clinicians and community-based organization leaders representing communities impacted by disparities convened to gather data and examine trends to better understand root causes. The team identified several hurdles impeding authentic community-academic partnerships including: 1) isolated solutions putting the primary responsibility for change on individuals and communities; 2) significant issues of trust due to racism and other forms of oppression; 3) misunderstandings and misinformation about community priorities/needs and the intersections of science and quality of life; and 4) structures to support working together in authentic ways. Following this work, the initiative moved into the next phase to address these hurdles. In this phase, CCSN uses developmental evaluation to help shape new ways of working together to go beyond CBPR by explicitly addressing mistrust, shared understanding, power and privilege differentials and more. CCSN begins with creating change in academic medicine and places community members at the table as experts. We report on first year learning, including the development of our guiding framework, managing resistance to change, and putting in practice an anti- oppression, co-learning model to support innovation and engage community and researchers as equitable partners. Further, we discuss the challenges of using a developmental evaluation approach in an academic environment. These include: 1) the need for significant shifts within core leadership teams and funders to look inward at their commitment to change internally; 2) differences in beliefs and practice between evaluation and research around planning, credibility of evidence, and use of data and language; 3) multiple levels of leadership models and engagement structures starting at different places and with varying understandings and assumptions of the models and approaches we are trying to use; 4) moving forward within a set of much larger systems that are becoming ready and changing at different paces. Conclusion. Eradicating cancer disparities requires novel ways to facilitate authentic community and academic medicine collaborations. Developmental evaluation supports an iterative process to quickly identify challenges and successes promoting ongoing learning and the ability to pivot and adapt approaches. Citation Format: Laura Pinsoneault, Tobi Cawthra, Beth Brunner, Linda Conlon, Lyle Ignace, Judy Heubel, Sandra Millon-Underwood, Hallgeir Rui, Jose Salazar, Ellen Velie, Alonzo Walker, Melinda Stolley. A framework for transformed community-academic partnerships to reduce cancer disparities [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Conference: Thirteenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2020 Oct 2-4. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(12 Suppl):Abstract nr PO-041.