Integrating novel GIS and GPS data to assess the impact of built environments on changes in BMI, physical activity and cancer-related biomarkers in two successful weight loss interventions in women at risk for breast cancer

Integrating novel GIS and GPS data to assess the impact of built environments on changes in BMI, physical activity and cancer-related biomarkers in two successful weight loss interventions in women at risk for breast cancer CANCER-RELATED BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH THROUGH INTEGRATING EXISTING DATA I will devote 2.57% in Yr 1, 2.66% in Yr. 2, and 2.75% in Yr. 3. NIH grant entitled Integrating novel GIS and GPS data to assess the impact of built environments on changes in BMI, physical activity and cancer-related biomarkers in two successful weight loss interventions in women at risk for breast cancer, led by Drs. Benmarhnia and Jankowska. I was named as Co-Investigator on the original award (R01 CA228147), which we wrote and submitted prior to my hire at ASU. My health promotion-related research focus is on obesity and risk for obesity-related diseases including insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. My transdisciplinary approach incorporates dietary and behavioral intervention, systems biology, metabolomics, gut microbiome, epigenetics, gene expression profiling, and single gene analyses in humans and rodent models. I am an expert in biomarkers of insulin resistance and breast cancer risk. I am a key contributor to published and on-going studies of modifiable behaviors impact metabolic disease and cancer risk in humans and mice (Section C). I am/have been co-investigator for multiple studies examining cancer risk-related glucoregulatory and inflammation biomarkers in controlled intervention trials including 1) multi-center biomarker study involving biospecimens from three Transdisciplinary Research in Energetics and Cancer (TREC) Center physical activity and weight loss-based intervention studies in breast cancer survivors, 2) two clinical intervention studies examining the health outcomes resulting from muscle strength enhancement (California Breast Cancer Research Program 25IB-0023) and exercise (R01 CA225746) in breast cancer survivors, and 3) two clinical trials examining the cancer-related metabolic and vascular benefits of reducing sitting time in overweight/obese postmenopausal women. I have collaborated with Dr. Jankowska for many years. This project is an extension of that prior work. Relevant examples of my collaborative work with Dr. Jankowska are: I was an investigator with the UCSD TREC Center (U54 CA155435) in which I was Director of the Developmental Projects Core, Co-investigator of the UCSD TREC Project #1, and Co-Chair of the TREC Consortium Biomarkers Working Group. I am Lead of Biospecimens and Biomarkers for Dr. Jankowskas on-going NCI-funded Provocative Questions R01 (Community of Mine; R01 CA179977; original PI - Kerr) and Multi-PI with Dr. Jankowska on an ancillary study to Community of Mine called Nucleotides to Neighborhoods. As part of my American Heart Association (AHA 16SFRN28420000) Womens Cardiovascular Health Research Center project focused on sitting time in Latinas, I have been studying the cardiometabolic effects of sitting time in postmenopausal women enrolled in Community of Mine, Reach for Health (a UCSD TREC RCT), and MENU (a UCSD TREC RCT), all cohorts to be used in the current study. I led the pilot analyses of serum vitamin D in a subset of the Community of Mine sample (N=146). In the current project, I will be responsible for directing archival biospecimen and biospecimen data processing at the UCSD site, including the investigation of glucoregulatory, oxidative stress, and vitamin D biomarkers. I will provide guidance on the processing and assays of participant samples in project as well as the collection, curation and analysis of resulting data. I will contribute to data analysis plan, data interpretation and preparation of manuscripts related to glucoregulatory, oxidative stress, and vitamin D biomarkers in this project. I will attend team meetings bi-weekly or as needed with the project team members remotely by Zoom. Drs. Jankowska, Benmarhnia, Rock, Natarajan and others on the team and I have a strong collaborative dynamic.