Using Middle School Science Teachers to Address Cancer Health Disparities (CARES4You)

Using Middle School Science Teachers to Address Health Disparities

The CARES4You study is testing a middle school science curriculum designed to teach students about cancer risk and prevention. The lessons are taught by regular science teachers during class time and are aligned with national science education standards. The curriculum includes six units (14 lessons) that help students learn about cancer, understand how lifestyle and environmental factors influence risk, and think about ways to make healthy choices.

The study will take place in 10 public middle schools in New York City. Some schools will begin using the CARES4You curriculum right away, while others will continue with their usual science lessons and receive the program later. Researchers will compare the two groups of schools.

The main goal of the study is to see whether the curriculum increases students' intentions to engage in healthy behaviors that may reduce cancer risk. The study will also examine whether students talk more with their caregivers about cancer risk and prevention after participating in the program. Caregivers may also report on some health behaviors in the household.

If the program is effective, CARES4You could provide schools with a practical and sustainable way to teach cancer prevention and promote healthy behaviors among adolescents and their families.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Cancer Prevention; Cancer Risk Factors
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: CARES4You Curriculum

Detailed Description

The investigators will evaluate whether the CARES4You intervention modifies health-promoting behavior intentions among middle school students in New York City.

Participants in the control arm will receive the exact same 5-week educational curriculum as those in the intervention arm.

Participants will:

1. Be assigned to either the control group or the study group; both will receive the same cancer educational curriculum over 5 weeks.
2. Receive weekly classroom lessons and labs over 5 weeks.
3. Students will complete a survey before and after the administration of the curriculum intervention. These questionnaires evaluate students' change in knowledge related to the curriculum, and questions about their cancer risk behaviors, and communication styles at home.
4. Caregivers of students in the intervention schools only will complete a survey at one time point and receive a $40 electronic gift card for completing the survey at the end of the curriculum implementation phase.
5. Instructors will complete a training program evaluation and a post-curriculum evaluation to assess the impact of the curriculum on their students.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 1812
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Rosio Ramos, BA; Phone Number: 646 962 5037; Email: ror2023@med.cornell.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Alia Komsany, PhD; Phone Number: 646-962-5036; Email: alk4019@med.cornell.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • Brooklyn, New York, United States, 11201
      • Active, not recruiting
      • Dock Street School for STEAM Studies District: 13 School #: K313
    • New York, New York, United States, 10033
      • Recruiting
      • P.S/I.S. 173 District: 6 School #: 173
      • Contact: Erica Phillips, MD, MS; Phone Number: 646-962-5013; Email: erp2001@med.cornell.edu
    • Queens, New York, United States, 11372
      • Active, not recruiting
      • I.S. 145 Joseph Pulitzer District 30 School #: Q145
    • Queens, New York, United States, 11375
      • Active, not recruiting
      • Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School District 28 School #: Q167
    • The Bronx, New York, United States, 10458
      • Recruiting
      • Jonas Bronck Academy District: 7 School #: X043
      • Contact: Erica Phillips, MD, MS; Phone Number: 646-962-5013; Email: erp2001@med.cornell.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adolescents:
• Age 10-13
• Attends a NYC Public Middle School
• Resides in one of the study's four target PPA's
• Parents/Caregivers:
• 18 years of age or older
• Has at least one child registered for middle school in NYC that resides with them
• Resides in one of the study's four target PPA's
• Able to provide informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Adolescents: Students who do not attend one of the participating NYC Public Middle Schools
• Parents/Caregivers: Caregivers who do not have a child that attends one of the participating NYC Public Middle Schools

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Immediate Intervention Delivery; Students in the immediate intervention group will receive the CARES4You curriculum as part of their regular science class. They will complete study assessments before the curriculum begins (baseline) and again approximately six weeks later, after the curriculum has been delivered. Caregivers will complete a one-time survey about cancer risk communication in the household and their own health behaviors approximately two weeks after the curriculum has been completed in their child's classroom.	Behavioral: CARES4You Curriculum; CARES4You is a teacher-delivered middle school science curriculum focused on cancer risk and prevention. Public middle schools in New York City self-select into either an immediate-intervention group or a delayed-intervention group. In both groups, grade-level science teachers deliver the same curriculum during regular 50-minute science classes over approximately five weeks. The program includes six units delivered across 14 lessons, typically taught 4-5 days per week. Units cover Cancer Genetics, Cancer Epidemiology, Media Literacy and Tobacco Advertising, Nutrition and Cancer, Biotechnology and Cancer, and Cancer Risk Reduction. Lessons combine brief instruction with interactive activities such as identifying cancer risk factors and discussing ways families can reduce risk. Students also complete a final cumulative project.
Placebo Comparator: Delayed Intervention Delivery; Schools assigned to the delayed intervention group will continue with their usual science curriculum during the initial study period. Students will complete the same study assessments as the intervention group at baseline and approximately six weeks later. After completion of the follow-up assessments, these schools will implement the CARES4You curriculum the following semester or academic year.	Behavioral: CARES4You Curriculum; CARES4You is a teacher-delivered middle school science curriculum focused on cancer risk and prevention. Public middle schools in New York City self-select into either an immediate-intervention group or a delayed-intervention group. In both groups, grade-level science teachers deliver the same curriculum during regular 50-minute science classes over approximately five weeks. The program includes six units delivered across 14 lessons, typically taught 4-5 days per week. Units cover Cancer Genetics, Cancer Epidemiology, Media Literacy and Tobacco Advertising, Nutrition and Cancer, Biotechnology and Cancer, and Cancer Risk Reduction. Lessons combine brief instruction with interactive activities such as identifying cancer risk factors and discussing ways families can reduce risk. Students also complete a final cumulative project.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in students' intention to engage in health-promoting behaviors following the completion of the curriculum.	Intent to engage in health-promoting behaviors will be assessed by an adapted nine-item instrument. The response scale for each question item ranges from 0 (does not apply to me) to 3 (very likely) with a sum score ranging from 0 to 27. Higher scores represent a greater intention to follow health-promoting behaviors.	Baseline, End of Study (6 weeks)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of student participants and caregiver participants who initiate cancer risk communication in the household.	Cancer risk communication will be assessed by a one item instrument. The response scale for the question ranges from 0 (no) to 1 (yes) with a yes indicating if the student participant has spoken with a caregiver participant about cancer.	End of Study (6 weeks)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Weill Medical College of Cornell University
• Collaborators: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Erica G Phillips, MD, MS, Weill Cornell

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Komsany A, McCooty K, Fox J, Shah U, Leak TM, McDonald JA, Terry MB, Soroka O, Phillips E. Integrating Cancer Prevention into Science Education: Development of the CARES4You School-based Curriculum. J Cancer Educ. 2025 Dec 22:10.1007/s13187-025-02812-x. doi: 10.1007/s13187-025-02812-x. Online ahead of print.

Helpful Links

• The study website is part of the Social Capital (SoCa) Center website and provides an overview of the CARES4You project, including its goals, curriculum components, and participating investigators. The SoCa Center is a collaborative research initiative f

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 29, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 24, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 24, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): March 30, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 30, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 24, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: cluster trial; school-based intervention; adolescent health; cancer prevention
• Other Study ID Numbers: 22-12025527; U54CA280808-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract); NYC DOE 4928 (Other Identifier: Department of Education)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Individual participant data that underlie the results reported in any publication will be shared after deidentification (text, tables, figures, and appendices).
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Data will become available beginning 6 months following publication and ending 5 years following publication.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Open-access data are publicly accessible; no approval is required.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP; ICF; ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No