FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 7, 2009
Contact: Macaulay Knight Whitaker
662.329.7119
mknight@pa.muw.edu
Faculty members awarded grant for cancer awareness promotion
COLUMBUS, Miss., - Amanda Dahl, registered dietician and assistant professor of nutrition, and Irene Pintado, assistant professor of health and kinesiology at Mississippi University for Women were recently awarded a Comprehensive Cancer Control for Mississippi mini-grant.
The $5,000 grant, funded through the Mississippi Department of Health and Mississippi Partnership for Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalition, is designed to encourage healthy lifestyles, promote recommended cancer screening guidelines and tests, increase access to quality cancer care and improve the quality of life for cancer survivors.
This is the third year that funding has been awarded to MUW for this project. The grant money is used for cancer prevention work at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. While the mass media has been used in the past to target the public, this year’s approach will use the internet to provide information to the general public, cancer patients, and their families and loved ones according to Pintado.
“We also hope that this increase in knowledge and awareness translates into making healthier lifestyle choices, which in turn will lead to a reduction in cancer mortality over time,” said Pintado, who initiated the grant work.
The Health and Kinesiology Department at MUW promotes health awareness in the community through a variety of programs including the Community Health Fair and Women’s Health Awareness week, both of which feature cancer awareness segments. The two women also partner with Baptist Cancer Center to provide educational luncheons once a month.
“The ideal goal for this grant is to see an increased awareness and knowledge regarding cancer prevention,” said Pintado. “We hope that residents of Mississippi are empowered and gain the skills to actively look for information about protecting their health.”
For more information about the department of health and kinesiology and its awareness programs visit, http://www.muw.edu/hk/ or call (662) 329-7225.
