Community Outreach and Engagement Office

The University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center actively collaborates with community partners to implement culturally appropriate strategies to address cancer disparities. The Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) Office conducts research and activities designed to eliminate the health inequities found among the peoples of Hawaiʻi and the United States Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI). Office staff help to identify evidence-based interventions proven to reduce the overall incidence and mortality from cancer in the region.

This UH Cancer Center research has long considered our population’s rich racial and ethnic diversity and investigates the biological, social-behavioral and environmental differences affecting cancer risk and outcomes. Extensive community-facing programs in cancer prevention and in clinical trials through the NCI-sponsored Minority Underserved Community Oncology Research Program (MU-NCORP) have been successful in enrolling high percentages of racial/ethnic minorities to intervention trials. In those parts of the USAPI that have limited access to oncology care, efforts are focused on cancer prevention.

The COE Office has strengthened our infrastructure to more robustly engage community partners, further assess our region’s cancer burden, actively identify community-driven priorities, and effectively communicate community needs to other programs within the UH Cancer Center.