The AANCART's infrastructure: empirical evidences of transdisciplinary effectiveness.

Abstract

In April 2000, the National Cancer Institute funded the Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness Research and Training (AANCART), the first Special Populations Network focused on Asian Americans on a national scale that had as its first specific aim, the building of a robust and sustainable infrastructure to increase cancer awareness, research, and training among Asian Americans in four major cities (New York, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles). The infrastructure was established to enable attainment of its two other specific aims related to partnerships: participation of Asian Americans in clinical and prevention trials, training, and development of pilot projects; and formulating grant-funded research to reduce the burden of cancer among Asian Americans. All three of these aims have been reached.1 The objectives of this paper are to (1) describe AANCART’s transdisciplinary infrastructure; (2) document its effectiveness; and (3) delineate principles that may be transferable to other transdisciplinary approaches to health concerns.