Congratulations to Dr. Ewan Cobran, Assistant Clinical Professor in CAP, who has received a five-year National Cancer Institute K01 Early Career Development Award for $862,985 for his research project, “Genetic Literacy and Patient-Caregiver Communication of Prognostic Genetic Technology for Localized Prostate Cancer.” According to Dr. Cobran, his study will explore how men with localized prostate cancer and their caregivers comprehend prognostic genetic technology and will examine how an educational video about genetics will impact patient-caregiver communication of prognostic genetic technology.

Dr. Cobran’s rationale is that without direct attention to genomic comprehension, the enthusiasm that exists in the rapidly increasing field of prostate cancer genomic medicine may not translate into health benefits for men with localized prostate cancer. “Men and caregivers with lower levels of education have a severe lack of genomic comprehension of tissue-based genetic tests for localized prostate cancer,” he explained. “So, tailored prostate cancer education, communication coaching, and a genomic literacy educational video will significantly improve patient-caregiver communication in a low literacy population. With this greater certainty regarding prognosis, men with localized prostate cancer will be equipped to make better treatment planning decisions.”