Community Outreach & Engagement (COE)
Cancer incidence and mortality is higher in the region Wilmot Cancer Institute serves as compared to the rest of New York State and the nation. What’s more, there are drastic and unacceptable cancer disparities by geography, race, and ethnicity among the population of 3 million people in these 27 counties, known as our catchment area.
Our COE team works to reduce the burden of cancer here by guiding efforts and attention where the need is greatest—collaborating with communities to better understand and resolve cancer disparities. And, working together, making a difference by bringing the latest and greatest science has to offer when it comes to the prevention, treatment, and cure of cancer to those who need it most.
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Spotlight: Can’t Quit Smoking? Maybe You Haven’t Gotten the Right Message
What motivates us the most? Rewards? Threats? Being part of a positive trend? These questions are central to a modern approach to help people kick the habit.
A Wilmot Cancer Institute team is launching a two-year research project to develop different types of text messages for smoking cessation — and then study them in clinical trials to find out what works best.
Plans call for recruiting about 2,600 smokers from a 27-county area that includes Rochester and extends up to Oswego and down to the Southern Tier, said Paula Cupertino, Ph.D., Wilmot’s associate director of Community Outreach & Engagement (COE), who joined the University of Rochester a year ago.
Researchers will pay special attention to the Latino population because it has not been as successful at quitting smoking. Through partnerships with co-investigators, the study goal is to enroll and engage 1,300 Latino people from upstate New York and in California.
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