Mary Politi, PhD

The partnership between The Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and Siteman Cancer Center investigates rural cancer disparities and ways to help educate, train, and implement effective strategies to reduce the disparities seen in rural communities.

As a co-investigator on the PCORI grant and PI of the subaward from Dartmouth College, Dr. Politi aims to support women of low socioeconomic status through early-stage breast cancer treatment decisions by providing patients with point-of-care decision aids.

This line of research strives to engage all members of the community throughout the research process to help navigate the healthcare process.

This project will develop tailored, patient-centered education materials to facilitate treatment decisions in patients with Hepatitis C infection and chronic kidney disease.

This project will develop a preference-sensitive decision support tool for patients considering breast reconstruction after mastectomy. The tool will provide patient education, elicit patients’ preferences, and include personalized risk prediction to aid in the decision making process.

The goal of this grant from the American Cancer Society is to help cancer patients and survivors choose health insurance plans that best meet their health and financial needs. An existing decision support tool will be tailored based on patient interview data, and the modified tool will be evaluated with a 3-arm randomized trial.

This project will bring evidence-based decision tools to rural communities and attempt to support rural cancer patients’ participation in clinical trials.