Dr. Kolonel Receives MERIT Award
(Winter 2003)

Dr. Laurence Kolonel, Deputy Director of the Cancer Research Center of Hawai‘i, was named a recipient of a MERIT Award (Method to Extend Research in Time) Award from the National Institutes of Health. The award for his Multiethnic Cohort Study (MEC) came on the recommendation of the National Cancer Institute. This is the first time that a Hawai‘i researcher has received this prestigious award, which recognizes investigators who have demonstrated superior competence and outstanding productivity during their previous research projects and are likely to continue to perform in an outstanding manner. Through the MERIT Award, Dr. Kolonel’s research project will be automatically funded for an additional three to five years at the same level without having to reapply for funding.

According to Dr. Kolonel, the Multiethnic Cohort Study includes more than 215,000 participants in Hawai‘i and California and examines the influence of diet and other lifestyle factors on cancer risk among Japanese Americans, Native Hawaiians, Caucasians, African Americans and Latinos. All participants completed a questionnaire about their diet, physical activity, medical history, and other factors between 1993 and 1996. By following these participants over time, Dr. Kolonel says the investigators hope to identify risk and protective factors for cancer that will serve as a basis for programs to control cancer in Hawai‘i and elsewhere. Drs. Abraham Nomura, Suzanne Murphy and Lynne Wilkens are co-investigators on the MEC Study.