Public Data Commons

Contextual characteristics, like someone’s neighborhood, influence cancer risk and disparities. But we do not fully understand how exposures at multiple levels interact with the human genome to affect these outcomes. Building on the UVA Cancer Center Community Outreach and Engagement team’s long-standing community partnerships in Danville and Martinsville, we propose to develop a Danville/Martinsville Community Cohort study. This racially diverse cohort will collect extensive data about people’s lifestyle, environmental exposures, community socio-economic characteristics, and biosamples to explore the complex relationships between multi-level risk factors and cellular-level outcomes that drive cancer risk and disparities in rural populations. This study will inform the development of precision prevention strategies aiming at reducing advanced glycation end-products and epigenetic aging, as well as changing human gut microbiome patterns associated with poor diet and neighborhood deprivation.