Message from the Director

I’m pleased to introduce this year’s special edition of Overview and Highlights, which presents a broad summary of our division’s initiatives and accomplishments. In recent years, our annual Overview and Highlights report has featured specific, cross-cutting areas of programmatic emphasis in the division, such as Implementation Science and Behavioral Science. This year, however, a year marked by transition in the division’s leadership, it seemed appropriate to reflect on the division’s evolution and provide a wider view of current initiatives and opportunities.

The remarkable breadth and depth of the work conducted by DCCPS reflects its unique role within the NCI, NIH, and HHS. As an extramural division, we support the many subfields of cancer control and population sciences, from etiological epidemiology to studies of long-term cancer survivors. As described in this report, the diversity of disciplines supported in our portfolio and represented by our staff is especially impressive. But our program staff are also remarkably productive in their own scientific scholarship because of the opportunities afforded through our management of unique research resources, such as the SEER Program.

The origami graphical theme of this year’s report provides a metaphor for both science and science management. Science begins with an idea, a simple blank sheet of paper. Research then proceeds through the careful design of a study, which in turn yields data that, when compiled and interpreted, can provide an elegant, holistic picture of a complex problem. Similarly, the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences began, under the visionary leadership of Barbara Rimer and Bob Hiatt, our founding leaders, with a blank sheet of paper. Their initial organizational chart grew in complexity and scale over time as the division evolved to respond to new scientific opportunities and public health challenges. The integrated entity we call DCCPS is the culmination of creativity, effort, and a passion for public service that continues to underlie scientific leadership and effective stewardship of our nation’s cancer control research enterprise.