Sherri Sheinfeld Gorin, professor in the Department of Family Medicine, is one of three recipients of Global REACH's Partnership Development Grant. She will use the funding for her project, "Multi-level Approaches to Reducing HPV Vaccine Hesitancy in Colombia."
She is partnering with Mariantonia Lemos Hoyos, PhD, Profesora Titular of Universidad EAFIT, in Medellín, Colombia.
Cervical cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers in the world. Almost all cervical cancers are caused by persistent infections with high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV). The routine administration of the HPV vaccination could effectively reduce the burden of cervical and other HPV-associated cancers over the coming decades. However, HPV vaccine hesitancy has reduced the administration of the HPV vaccine in Colombia.
The long-term goal of this study is to increase HPV vaccine uptake—and reduce hesitancy—to prevent cervical, and other HPV-related cancers among Colombian adolescents. Using a multi-level approach, the project aims to describe the barriers to and facilitators of vaccine uptake through interviews and focus groups with key stakeholder groups. This funding will enable the partnership to build on existing studies of HPV vaccine hesitancy and to expand the partnership for future collaborations.
Founded at the University of Michigan Medical School (UMMS) in 2001, Global REACH is a key partner to UMMS faculty members, learners, and departments working to engage with international collaborators to advance health, research, and education. By engaging partners around the globe, not only does Global REACH extend Michigan Medicine to improve health in other (often low-resource) settings, it also generates scholarship to improve healthcare delivery here at home. Global REACH's work complements the medical school’s education-driven mission as well as Michigan Medicine’s broader mission to “advance health to serve Michigan and the world.
Read Global REACH's original announcement and learn more about the two other Michigan Medicine winners of the Partnership Development Grant here.
