Ms. Jane Bolin, professor at the Texas A&M School of Public Health and director of the Southwest Rural Health Research Center, and Dr. David McClellan, assistant professor of family and community medicine at the Texas A&M College of Medicine, have been awarded a $1,350,000 grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) for breast and cervical cancer screening and prevention activities in rural areas of Texas.

[Photo: Ms. Jane Bolin]

According to data from the Texas Cancer Registry, low-income and medically underserved women residing in rural areas of Texas suffer from significantly lower survival rates associated with breast and cervical cancer, bringing prevention and care to the forefront of concern across the state. The three-year grant will allow Texas A&M to continue to provide services to women in nine Texas counties, while expanding services to eight contiguous counties, seven of which are classified rural.

Building on strengths of academic medical, nursing and public health programs, and their clinical and community partners, the program will facilitate education on, access to, and provision of, breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services, across the continuum of care, for low-income women in 17 largely-rural Texas counties. It will also provide interdisciplinary training to family physician residents, nursing and nurse practitioner students and community health workers.

“We are thrilled to be able to continue and expand on the work of our previous CPRIT grant – ensuring that low-income and underserved women in the greater Brazos Valley have access to affordable and culturally relevant screenings, diagnostics, and navigation services related to breast and cervical cancer.” Ms. Bolin said. “This project we will not only increase patient awareness, but improve cancer prevention training and practices for family medicine physicians, nurses. and public health professionals.”