Minority-Based Community Oncology Research Program

The overall goals ofthe Montefiore Medical Center (MMC) minority-based NCORP community site are to advance the diagnosis, prevention, and management of early and advanced cancer by participating in the NCORP as a minority/underserved community site. This will be accomplished by leveraging the partnership between MMC, which brings strengths in integrated patient care and innovative health care delivery systems serving a largely minority population, and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Cancer Center (Einstein), which brings strength in cancer clinical research through its NCI-designated cancer center. The MMC-Einstein program also brings critical leadership to the ECOG-ACRIN Research Group and NRG NCORP research bases, including leadership roles at the level of the group chair's office, scientific committee chair (or co-chair), and protocol chair (or co-chair). Our plans build upon our long-standing involvement in all aspects of cancer research as a main member of ECOG for nearly 40 years and an NCI-designated cancer center for 43 years, and a strong history of minority accrual to cancer treatment trials (about two-thirds of all patients). MMC serves the Bronx, an urban community of 1.4 million residents, of whom 89% are minorities and 29% live below the federal poverty level. As an NCORP site, we will combine our strengths in cancer therapeutics with broader institutional capacity in prevention, screening and cancer care delivery, including: a newly established Community Oncology section in our cancer center; an extensive practice-based research network in primary care; our affiliation with safety-net public hospitals in the Bronx; and our innovative models of integration care management, delivery and financing, including our CMS-supported Pioneer Accountable Care Organization. Our site is poised to make a strong contribution to the national mission and goals of NCORP. The MMC-Einstein NCORP program is led by individuals with experience and federal funding in cancer therapeutics and cancer control (Dr. Joseph Sparano), cancer prevention (Dr. Mark Einstein), and cancer control and delivery (Dr. Bruce Rapkin), and supported by a cadre of other funded investigators.