Whitney Zahnd, assistant professor of health management and policy in the University of Iowa College of Public Health, has been selected by the Institute for Public Health Practice, Research and Policy (IPHPRP) to establish a new collaboratory dedicated to advancing rural cancer survivorship research.

A collaboratory is a creative group process designed to solve complex problems and connect collaborators from different backgrounds and disciplines to expand the scope, scale, and impact of critical public health research. 

Zahnd’s interdisciplinary team will focus on rural cancer survivorship research. Iowa has the second highest rate of new cancers among all states, and one of only two states with an increasing incidence rate. However, more Iowans are surviving cancer, with an estimated 46.6% of survivors residing in rural counties. Providing care in rural areas can be challenging when effective or promising interventions exist but are not available. An implementation science approach, focused on identifying barriers to implementing evidence-based interventions and the strategies to overcome those barriers, is critical to bringing comprehensive survivorship care to rural areas.

“We hope to establish a strong community-researcher network for initiating and sustaining rural cancer survivorship implementation science research,” says Zahnd. “Ultimately, this will contribute to improved cancer survivorship care and support for rural cancer survivors and their caregivers in Iowa and beyond.”

In addition to Zahnd, the collaboratory team members include:

• Sarah Nash, Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health,
• Natoshia Askelson, Department of Community and Behavioral Health, College of Public Health,
• Mary Charlton, Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health,
• Julie Lee, Department of Health Management and Policy, College of Public Health,
• Jessica Gorzelitz, Department of Health and Human Physiology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences,
• Aaron Seaman, Department of Internal Medicine, Carver College of Medicine, and
• Heather Reisinger, Department of Internal Medicine, Carver College of Medicine.

External team partners include the Iowa Rural Health Association, Iowa Cancer Consortium, and the American Cancer Society.

Read more about the IPHPRP collaboratories and their work.