UAMS receives $3.5 million from CDC for colorectal cancer screening

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded more than $3.5 million to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) to lead a five-year statewide effort to improve the rate of colorectal cancer screening in the state.

Arkansas ranks fifth nationally for overall cancer mortality and sixth nationally for colorectal cancer mortality, making colorectal cancer screening a major public health concern statewide.

The grant will enable physicians and researchers at UAMS who focus on primary care health outcomes to establish and enhance partnerships with other entities in Arkansas who also have an interest in improving the screening rate, for the purpose of adopting integrated practices based on the best available science.

Called Promoting Resource and Outreach to Enhance Colorectal Testing for Arkansas (PROTECT-AR), the UAMS-led effort will include data monitoring and continuous quality improvements. Its goal is to enhance completion rates of all colorectal cancer screening regardless of which approved screening method is used.

“We are collaborating with several groups within UAMS, including the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, to implement new workflows for cancer screening navigation and follow-up, as well as the Institute for Community Health Innovation for evaluation and readiness activities,” said Dr. Stephen Foster, the principal investigator and a member of the Cancer Institute’s Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences research program.

“While the primary focus of this project is to improve colorectal cancer screening rates and follow-up within the UAMS Regional Campuses, the initiative will expand to include several Baptist Health clinics,” he added.

Foster is an assistant professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, the medical director of Population Health for the UAMS Primary Care and Population Health clinical services, and the director of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine’s Office of Digital Health.

“This funding allows us to build the kind of statewide partnerships that can truly move the needle on colorectal cancer outcomes in Arkansas,” said Dr. Michael Birrer, director of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute and a UAMS vice chancellor. “Colorectal cancer is one of the most preventable and treatable cancers when it’s found early, yet too many Arkansans are still not being screened. The reality is that we can’t have enough colorectal cancer screening opportunities to address the impact this disease is having on families and communities in our state.”

The funding is being dispersed in annual increments through Aug. 29, 2030. The first installment of $544,420 was awarded in late September.