Correction (11:14 p.m. Jan. 11/2011): Due to a reporting error, this story misstated the gender of Rene Lopez. He is male. This story has been updated to reflect this correction. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
A study conducted by researchers at UNC has found that men are more willing to receive a vaccine against human papilloma virus when dialogue surrounding it is framed around cancer prevention.
When a group of 600 men aged 18-59 were asked if they would get the vaccine if it prevented genital warts, 42 percent responded yes.
When the same group was asked if they would get the vaccine if it prevented both genital warts and anal cancer, affirmative responses shot up to 60 percent.
The study, entitled “Does framing human papilloma virus vaccine as preventing cancer in men increase vaccine acceptability?”, was published in the August 2010 issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Annie-Laurie McRee, a UNC doctoral student and lead author of the study, hopes the study will lead health care providers to promote the cancer-preventing benefits of the vaccine, which was recently approved by the FDA.
UNC physicist gets award for research in solar energy
Rene Lopez, a UNC researcher, was part of a team of scientists that was the recipient of a $100,000 award for its work in the area of solar energy research.
The Scialog Collaboration Innovation Awards were given to three different teams by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, the oldest American foundation of its kind.
