Objectives Reports on the challenges and lessons learned from the Pacific Island American Health Study engagement with community-based organizations (CBOs) and faith-based organizations (FBOs) in Pacific Islander (PI) communities and mechanisms to facilitate the collection of robust data. Methods Academic–community partnership building was achieved with PI CBOs and FBOs. Focus group meetings were organized to plan various aspects of the study, develop questionnaire themes and protocols for survey, assist with the interviewer recruitment process, and strategize data dissemination plan. Lessons Learned The PIA-HS represents a model for overcoming challenges in data collection among small understudied populations. FBOs represent a valuable resource for community-based participatory research (CBPR) data collection and for effective interventions. Conclusion The study methodology can be replicated for other racial/ethnic groups with high levels of religiosity combined with concentrated levels of residential clustering. Expansion of the Pacific Islander American Health Study (PIA-HS) to include other PI subgroups is encouraged.

Tongans in this study had a limited amount of information about cancer; however, they felt strongly that having cancer was the equivalent of death. Our findings will help in the development of culturally sensitive cancer education for the US Tongan community.Background-There is little published information about cancer related knowledge, attitudes, and preventive behaviors of Tongans in the United States.

The groundwork for the Pacific Islander cancer control network (PICCN) began in the early 1990s with a study of the cancer control needs of American Samoans.The necessity for similar studies among other Pacific Islander populations led to the development of PICCN. The project's principal objectives were to increase cancer awareness and to enhance cancer control research among American Samoans, Tongans, and Chamorros. PICCN was organized around a steering committee and 6 community advisory boards, 2 from each of the targeted populations. Membership included community leaders, cancer control experts, and various academic and technical organizations involved with cancer control. Through this infrastructure, the investigators developed new culturally sensitive cancer education materials and distributed them in a culturally appropriate manner. They also initiated a cancer control research training program, educated Pacific Islander students in this field, and conducted pilot research projects. PICCN conducted nearly 200 cancer awareness activities in its 6 study sites and developed cancer educational materials on prostate, colorectal, lung, breast, and cervical cancer and tobacco control in the Samoan, Tongan, and Chamorro languages. PICCN trained 9 students who conducted 7 pilot research projects designed to answer important ques-