Minority Recruitment Core

							Project CONNECT: The Bridge to Healthy Communities Through Research
Carolina-Shaw Partnership for Health Disparities Research
Supported by the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities
Principal Investigator: Paul Godley, MD, PhD
5-P-60-MD000244-02
9/30/02-8/31/07

Core Director: Giselle Corbie-Smith, MD, MSc
Associate Professor of Social Medicine
Co-Director, Program on Health Disparities
Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research
The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
725 Airport Road, CB #7590
Chapel Hill, N.C. 27599-7590
Email: gcorbie@med.unc.edu


Black Americans have disproportionately high rates of disease and disproportionately poor health
outcomes. Recent emphasis on increased representation of minority populations in all research has
challenged investigators to find ways to diversify the sample populations that are recruited to participate in
prevention and treatment trials.        The problem of under-representation requires a focused yet
multidimensional approach to increasing minority participation. Strategies are needed to respectfully
respond to issues underlying the distrust of the medical and research establishment, and to increase
participation in studies designed to understand and address health disparities.

The Carolina-Shaw Partnership for Health Disparity Research, funded by the National Center for Minority
Health and Health Disparities, is a “Center of Excellence in Partnerships for Community Outreach,
Research on Disparities in Health and Training” (Project EXPORT). As a component of this Partnership,
the role of Project CONNECT is to build trusting relationships with the black community that will lead to
meaningful participation in disparities research and from these relationships build a stable research
population. Project CONNECT will accomplish this by 1) piloting the development of a registry of potential
research participants 2) networking with Black churches and community organizations to inform about
different types of research, what research participation may entail and what to expect from research
participation and 3) identifying individuals who are interested in being contacted about future research
participation in health research, particularly cancer prevention and control studies.

The confidential registry will collect basic participant data including contact information, age, education level
and basic health status. Recruitment into the registry will be generated from three primary sources 1)
participants in current research studies 2) church and community-based outreach activities and 3) public
databases. Four hundred and fifty adult volunteers will be recruited into the registry, without emphasis on
individuals with a particular disease. Initially the registry will primarily target African Americans, however
long terms plans include expanded outreach to Native American and Latino communities.

Serving as a liaison between registry participants and investigators, Project CONNECT will assist
investigators in developing culturally appropriate strategies for recruitment and retention of minority
participants and disseminate summaries of studies to volunteers to foster awareness of and interest in
current research. Activities of Project CONNECT will enhance knowledge about successful methods of
minority recruitment and the effectiveness of a volunteer registry for facilitating enrollment of minority
participants into research studies.