The research question:
How do the social drivers of health and sun habits affect melanoma risk?
Background: Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer. Prior research has identified several melanoma risk factors, including exposure to outdoor ultraviolet radiation and tanning bed use. There are also known disparities in melanoma stage at diagnosis (meaning how far the melanoma has progressed at the time it is diagnosed), melanoma treatment, and outcomes after diagnosis.
Meet the researchers: Lauren Longo is a second-year medical student at University of California San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine. She graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Scripps University. Her research interests include understanding how genetic predispositions, environmental exposures, and social determinants of health affect the diagnosis and treatment of melanoma in the United States. Lauren hopes her research can contribute to improving early detection and equitable melanoma care for at-risk populations.
Olivia Guidotti is a second-year medical student at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with a strong interest in melanoma research and clinical dermatology. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience and Psychology from Wesleyan University in 2020. Olivia is particularly focused on exploring interventions to reduce skin cancer burden and understanding melanoma risk factors in disproportionately affected populations. Her goal is to help improve prevention and detection strategies in melanoma care. As a California native, Olivia is grateful for the opportunity to work with data from the wonderful CTS cohort!
Brian Chen, PhD, MPH, is an epidemiologist at California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) Research Institute. His research focuses on the use of genomic technologies to study aging and age-related diseases.
What makes this project unique: There is extensive data available on the relationship between sun exposure and melanoma. This study is unique in that it will examine the social drivers of health and explore how those risk factors are related to melanoma risk, stage at diagnosis, and clinical outcomes (meaning what happens melanoma is diagnosed). Social drivers of health, also referred to as the social determinants of health, are the conditions in which people live, work, play, learn, and socialize. This project will provide new insight into whether these social determinants, like where someone lives, their socioeconomic status, and their insurance coverage, are associated with melanoma outcomes in the California Teachers Study.
The questionnaire answers used:
Questionnaire 1:
Health status
Height & weight
Physical activity
Smoking
Sun exposure and sun habits
Questionnaire 5:
Health status
Height & weight
Physical activity
Sun exposure and sun habits