Title: Pilot Study of the Safety and Feasibility of Immediate Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Patients with Invasive Colonic Adenocarcinoma
Project Team: Mehraneh Jafari (UCI), Matthew Brady (Memorial Care Long Beach), Kathrina Munoz (UCI)
Project Description:
Colorectal cancer is third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Standard of care for patients with non-metastatic colon cancer (CC) is surgical resection followed by adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) for high-risk patients. Despite adequate surgery and AC, colon cancer recurrence continues to occur even in cases of early stage disease. Non-metastatic lymph node positive colon cancer continues to have a 65% 5-year survival rate. Currently, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has no recommendations on when to initiate AC. We believe that concurrent chemotherapy administration with our immediate adjuvant protocol will be safe and well-tolerated, based on our own experience and on the wider published literature. No prior studies have specifically examined concurrent perioperative utilization of intravenous chemotherapy for non-metastatic colon cancer. We hypothesize that the use of IV chemotherapy at time of colectomy and will have no significant effects on surgical safety outcomes. This project is a feasibility and safety pilot study.
Title: The (Anti-) Soil Lead Project: A Spatial Analysis of Total Lead Levels in Soil Throughout Santa Ana
Project Team: Alana LeBron (UCI), Abel Ruiz (Jovenes Cultivando Cambios), Enrique Valencia, OC Environmental Justice
Project Description:
Until the Flint water crisis, public health attention to lead exposures has largely been focused on paint. Cabrera (2017) recently reported that several areas in Santa Ana – a predominantly Latina/o/x and immigrant community19,20 – had soil lead levels three to ten times higher than Environmental Protection Agency cut-points for lead toxicity (400 ppm). Santa Ana children are
64% more likely to have elevated blood lead levels relative to children across California. These findings activated community-driven questions about the prevalence of lead and other contaminants in Santa Ana, the distribution of these contaminants, connections between lead exposures and carceral outcomes for youth of color, and health equity interventions. The aims include: Aim 1: Conduct spatial analysis of lead and other contaminants in the soil across Santa Ana. Aim 2: Develop promotores model to disseminate findings to households who participated in soil sampling and survey participants. Aim 3: Translate findings into a public health action plan to prevent soil lead exposures and mitigate health consequences. Findings will inform future analyses of the bioavailability and sources of soil lead and enhance understanding of populations who are most vulnerable to these exposures.
Title: The Effects of Urban Industrial Corridors on asthma morbidity in school aged children in Santa Ana: A pilot project by the Environmental Justice Campaign of MPNA-GREEN
Project: Team: Kim Lu (UCI); Jose Rea (Madison Park Neighborhood Association – GREEN)
Project Description:
Pediatric emergency room asthma visits in the Madison Park neighborhood of Santa Ana (92707), home to 63,000 residents, rank among the worst 25% within Orange County, California (Figure 1).1 In this pilot project, we will partner with Madison Park Neighborhood Association (MPNA)-Getting Residents Engaged in Exercise and Nutrition (GREEN) in Santa Ana, California, to assess the impact of living in close proximity to an industrial corridor on asthma related morbidity among school aged children. Recently, James Madison Elementary, a school in the Madison Park community and the largest elementary school in the City of Santa Ana, was found to be less than 1,000 feet from an industrial corridor housing 42 South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) permitted facilities (Figure 2).2 To our knowledge, there is currently little to no real-time data collection of common pollutants including PM, NOx, SO2, or ozone near the industrial corridors in Santa Ana. The overall goals of this project are to 1) respond directly to community concerns about the potential health effects of air pollution on child health by providing accessible data, 2) empower residents to become engaged with environmental justice efforts and 3) lay the groundwork for a future large-scale community air quality monitoring network in Santa Ana, ultimately to help improve the health of the community.
