MASS CONECT will involve representatives of HSPH, the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), and Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH). The program will establish a network of community leaders, academic cancer control researchers, policymakers, state and local public health agencies, local media, and public health and health care practitioners in Boston and Worcester, the two largest cities in Massachusetts, and in Lawrence, the city with the lowest per capita income in New England. In addition, an advisory group will work with local community members to gather information and help them use it.

"MASS CONECT represents a major opportunity to bring together these multiple partners and maximize precious resources," said Howard Koh, principal investigator of the grant and HSPH Associate Dean for Public Health Practice. "We believe that the network offers an extraordinary model that will integrate partners in an unprecedented fashion."

The network will develop programs for cancer prevention and early detection interventions in underserved communities. Interventions will include smoking cessation, healthy eating and physical activity, and early detection and treatment of breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers. Key community coalitions include The Alliance for Community Health (Boston), Boston REACH 2010 Coalition, Mayor's Health Task Force of Lawrence, and Common Pathways (Worcester).

Co-investigators on the grant include: Karen Emmons, HSPH Professor of Society, Human Development, and Health and Associate Director of the DF/HCC Initiative to Eliminate Cancer Disparities; Vish Viswanath, HSPH Associate Professor of Society, Human Development, and Health and Associate Professor, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI); JudyAnn Bigby, Director of the Office for Women, Family and Community Programs, BWH; Nancy Krieger, HSPH Associate Professor of Society, Human Development, and Health; and Elizabeth Barbeau, HSPH Assistant Professor of Society, Human Development, and Health and Assistant Professor of Medical Oncology/Population Sciences at the DFCI.

Funding for MASS CONECT is part of a larger Community Networks Program announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on May 6.