This webinar explores the role of immune exhaustion (IE) in early-onset breast cancer. Using the All of Us dataset, associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms in 785 IE-related genes and early-onset breast cancer will be examined.

Join us to learn more about research methods, key findings, and their implications for addressing racial disparities in aggressive breast cancer. How this work can inform future studies and how researchers can leverage the All of Us dataset to pursue equity-focused health research will also be explored.

Wednesday, February 19, 2025
1:00 – 2:00 PM ET

About the New Directions in Health Research and Equity Webinar Series

This series spotlights innovative scholarship leveraging publicly available data from the All of Us Research Program. These scholars, members of the All of Us Researcher Academy network, are pushing the boundaries of health research and education through equity-focused questions, cutting-edge methods, and data that reflect the rich diversity of our country. Join us to learn about their projects and hear insights into how you can use this dataset in your own work.

 

Moderators & Speakers:

Headshot of Angela Franklin

Angela Balfour Franklin, M.Div is the All of Us Engagement Lead at Community-Campus Partnerships for Health. She is an experienced health equity and program manager, recognized for her expertise in developing and implementing initiatives to address health disparities strongly focused on serving historically underserved communities. Angela has demonstrated her commitment to creating positive health outcomes for socially vulnerable communities in the U.S. and southern Africa.

Throughout her career, Angela has excelled in community outreach, program development, and strategic partnership building. Her work spans across various sectors, including public health, community organizations, and religious institutions. Angela is adept at working with diverse populations, designing effective programs, and leading cross-functional teams to achieve impactful results.

Angela’s professional journey includes notable roles as Regional Coordinator at the State of Connecticut Department of Public Health’s Office of Health Equity, where she spearheaded initiatives to increase vaccine access in underserved areas. She has also worked in southern Africa with non-governmental organizations and fixed-base operators developing HIV/AIDS programs for women and girls in both urban and rural settings.

Headshot of Presenter Sula

Sula Hood, PhD is a Senior Research Scientist in the Center for Communication and Engagement Research at RTI. She has extensive training and experience in disparities and health communication research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including a two-year National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded traineeship in Eliminating Health Disparities completed in the nationally recognized Health Communication Research Laboratory (HCRL). She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Cancer Health Disparities at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and Gillings School of Global Public Health in Chapel Hill North Carolina.

Her professional experience includes over 15 years of leading community engaged research studies, with a focus on advancing health equity and improving outcomes among minority and underserved populations. In 2016, she was recognized as a Duke Social Networks and Health Fellow. She has also held service roles at the national level. In 2022, Dr. Hood served as invited co-chair for a 2-day NIDDK-sponsored workshop on “The Social Component of Diabetes Health Disparities: New Directions in Analyses and Interventions Through Social Networks and Structure.” She is also an invited member of the CDC National Family Health History Working Group.

Headshot of Tomi Akinyemiju, PhD

Tomi Akinyemiju, PhD is a Professor of Population Health Sciences, Ob/Gyn, and Global Health. She is also the Associate Director for Community Outreach, Engagement, and Equity at the Duke Cancer Institute. 

Dr. Akinyemiju’s methodological expertise combines social and molecular cancer epidemiology, cancer biology,  and health disparities. Her research accomplishments have focused on articulating and  innovating conceptual and empirical approaches for cancer health disparities research,  specifically, disentangling the role of race as a social construct and race-associated biological  mechanisms that contribute to cancer disparities. Dr. Akinyemiju has received numerous awards  including the 2023 Michelle Winn Inclusive Excellence Award.

Headshot of Oyomoare Osazuwa-Peters, PhD

Oyomoare L. Osazuwa-Peters, PhD is the Medical Instructor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine with the Research to Eliminate Global Cancer Disparities (REGAL) research group.

Her current research is in the intersection of biology, molecular cancer epidemiology, and health equity, with a specific focus on examining the biological basis of cancer-related disparities using “multi-omics” approaches.

Dr. Osazuwa-Peters is passionate about applying her quantitative skills in increasing knowledge that is fundamental to informing interventions to mitigate health disparities.

All of Us Research Program

The National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program is a historic effort to speed up health research discoveries, enabling new kinds of individualized health care. To make this possible, the program is building one of the world’s largest and most diverse databases for health research. All of Us aims to include a million or more people living in the United States and its territories. The program seeks for its participant cohort to reflect the diversity of the U.S. population and to include individuals from groups that have been underrepresented in health research in the past.

All of Us Researcher Academy

The All of Us Researcher Academy provides training and technical assistance to researchers who are conducting research with the All of Us Researcher Workbench, the cloud-based platform where registered researchers can access data contributed by All of Us participants. The academy also supports peer-to-peer learning and network-building among researchers and students.

The academy is dedicated to providing support to institutions that have a documented historical mission or historical commitment to training underrepresented students. See the Notice of NIH’s Interest in Diversity for examples of groups that have been shown to be underrepresented in the biomedical research workforce.

All of Us Researcher Academy resources are provided at no cost to students, faculty, and post-docs at institutions that have received academy Institutional Champion awards. RTI International has supported research teams at 19 universities overall.

RTI International leads the All of Us Researcher Academy in collaboration with the All of Us Research Program’s Division of Engagement and Outreach. The division partners with community organizations nationwide to foster relationships with participants, researchers, and health care providers. The academy and other researcher engagement activities are central to building a diverse community of researchers.

All of Us Researcher Academy Partners

The All of Us Researcher Academy is supported by the Division of Engagement and Outreach, All of Us Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Award Number OT2OD028395.

All of Us and the All of Us logo are registered service marks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

RTI International is a trade name of Research Triangle Institute. RTI and the RTI logo are U.S. registered trademarks of Research Triangle Institute.