About

Study Background

The Northern Plains American Indian Lung Cancer Intervention Project is funded by the Bridging Cancer Care initiative of the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation. It is a collaboration between the Johns Hopkins University Center for Indigenous Health – Great Plains Hub (led by Dr. Don Warne and Dr. Jordyn Gunville-Pourier) and the Avera Research Walking Forward Clinic (Dr. Daniel Petereit and Michele Sargent, RN) in Rapid City, SD.

What are we doing?

The project aims to: 

  1. Increase lung cancer screening rates among American Indian populations
  2. Implement a comprehensive lung health guidance program in both urban and reservation-based American Indian communities to address time-to-diagnosis and time-to-treatment outcomes
  3. Deliver educational programming—including tobacco cessation content—that encourages participation in lung health services
  4. Collaborate with traditional healers to examine the use of commercial tobacco and promote the use of traditional tobacco in Lakota ceremonies
  5. Enroll eligible American Indian individuals in Medicaid to support sustainable access to lung cancer screening and care
  6. Improve understanding of the implications of Medicaid expansion in South Dakota to inform future program implementation

For more info, contact:

Dr. Jordyn Gunville-Pourier, jgunvil1@jh.edu.