Ongoing Global Health Projects

Cancer Research UK
BRP Associate Director, Bill Klein, served as the Director for an innovation sandpit workshop focused on cancer-related decision making and health behavior hosted by Cancer Research United Kingdom (CRUK). Seven of the ten participating teams were awarded seed grants at the end of the 3-day workshop to conduct pilot and feasibility work. Lucy Davies from CRUK also served as a consultant for a similar sandpit workshop hosted by NCI in May. There are currently plans to organize a joint NCI-CRUK sandpit workshop in 2017.  Additionally, CRUK’s Jyotsna Vohra and Linda Bauld visited BRP in April to discuss their work, particularly in regard to using research to inform policy. BRP will be sending a contingent to visit CRUK in 2017.

International Awareness and Beliefs about Cancer (ABC) Survey: Analytic Session with UCL Collaborator
In April 2016, Samantha Quaife from the University of College London visited NCI for a week-long analytic session with the primary aims of a) creating a merged dataset linking ABC survey data collected in the United States with data collected in the United Kingdom (England, Wales, and Northern Ireland), and b) conducting preliminary analyses. Kate Rendle with Sarah Kobrin and Genevieve Grimes in HDRP led the session, but Ms. Quaife also met with collaborators across DCCPS, including Bill Klein and Erin Ellis in BRP, Pam Marcus in EGRP, and several others. The ABC survey data provide a novel resource for international comparison of population awareness and beliefs about cancer. The survey was first administered in six countries (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the UK) by the International Cancer Benchmark Partnership (ICBP), part of Cancer Research UK.  Dr. Kobrin, working with the late Jane Wardle, led the data collection in the US. A number of analyses comparing barriers to care and cancer beliefs in the UK and the US are in progress. Additionally, in September 2016, Sarah will meet with ICBP collaborators in London to further discuss current and planned projects.

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Global Health Research and Training Initiatives

UICC World Cancer Congress and Pre-conference Workshop
The 2016 UICC World Cancer Congress will be held November 1-3, 2016 in Paris, France.
The Implementation Science Team will host a 1-day pre-conference workshop on Dissemination and Implementation (D&I) Research, Principles and Practice on October 31, 2016. The workshop is designed to provide an introduction to the field of D&I, and lay the groundwork for developing D&I research proposals. Several DCCPS staff will participate as presenters in sessions at the upcoming World Cancer Congress

NCI-USAID Implementation Science Masters Course
The US Agency for International Development (USAID), US National Academy of Sciences (NAS), and NCI have partnered to offer a Masters Course targeted at investigators from low- and middle-income countries in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region working on health needs at the intersection of infectious diseases and non-communicable disease research. This course is designed to provide an introduction to the field of implementation science, and lay the groundwork for developing implementation science research proposals. Cynthia Vinson and Sarah Bruce Bernal of the Implementation Science Team, joined by Mark Parascandola of the Behavioral Research Program, represent the DCCPS in this partnership that has also received buy-in from the World Health Organization to develop a distance-learning course that incorporates seven webinars, online course work, and culminates in a 3-day in-person training in Cairo, Egypt. Applications were accepted from researchers working in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, or West-Bank Gaza.

Climate Adaptation in the Developing World
Earlier this year, Stephanie Fowler served as a teaching assistant in the field experience portion of a Johns Hopkins University undergraduate course focused on the impact of climate change on public health and sustainability in low- and middle-income countries. For 3 weeks, Dr. Fowler helped lead group discussion and guide field work while touring several villages across Kenya and Tanzania.

IARC Caribbean Regional Cancer Registry Hub
Dr. Damali Martin presented on the use of cancer registry data for epidemiologic research and cancer control planning at the IARC Basic Training Workshop in June 2016 in Turks and Caicos. The overall objective of the workshop was to provide participants with basic training in population-based cancer registries and to provide attendees an opportunity to contribute ideas for the implementation of the IARC Caribbean Regional Cancer Registry Hub. The target audience consisted of Chronic Disease focal points from 14 Caribbean countries.

Drs. Martin and Brenda Edwards also performed site visits to the Bahamas and Jamaica in August as part of the Global Initiative for Cancer Registration (GICR) in developing countries, under the IARC Caribbean Regional Registry Hub. The purpose of these site visits is to assess ongoing plans for cancer registration in the Bahamas and Jamaica; assess the registry organizational plans for operation; discuss funding strategies and commitments including plans for sustainability, provide guidance and technical assistance during the visit as well as formal recommendations after the visit; and examine the feasibility of establishing a formal agreement under the GICR for improving cancer surveillance in The Bahamas and Jamaica. Drs. Martin and Edwards will be joined by Denise Duran (CDC) and Glennis Andall-Brereton (CARPHA) and Betsy Kohler (North American Association of Central Cancer Registries).

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Noteworthy Reports

None this issue.

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Meeting Reports

The European Conference on Visual Perception
Todd Horowitz traveled to Barcelona, Spain, August 28-September 1, 2016, to attend the European Conference on Visual Perception and learn the latest developments in perception research. This annual meeting, which focuses on the scientific study of human visual perception, other sensory modalities and multisensory perception, attracts participants from a wide variety fields, including psychology, neuroscience, optics, and computational science.

Grantee Site Visit, Zambia
Brenda Edwards was in Zambia the last week of July 2016 for a PEPFAR/FIC/NIMH/NCI site visit of a grantee who conducts research and provides training related to investigating early-childhood infections of Kaposi's sarcoma associated with human herpes virus (HHV8) in Zambia through partnership and capacity building. Vaurice Starks is the program director for this grantee and facilitated the site visit, funded by the NIH Office of AIDS Research.

British Nutrition Society Meeting, Dublin
Amy Subar presented at the annual British Nutrition Society meeting in Dublin in July 2016 about the Automated Self-administered 24-hour Dietary Assessment Tool (ASA24). To learn more about ASA24, visit https://epi.grants.cancer.gov/asa24.

Teams in Cancer Care Panel Session at INGroup Conference
Veronica Chollette, Sallie Weaver, Eduardo Salas, and Mary Lou Smith convened a Panel session to discuss the NCI and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Teams in Cancer Care Delivery Project: Implications for Team Research and Cancer Care Delivery on July 15, 2016, at the 2016 INGRoup Annual Conference in Helsinki, Finland. The goal of the session was to help conference participants understand the complexities of cancer care delivery, the impetus towards improving coordination of care through effective health care teams, and how the science of team research can improve cancer care delivery and patient outcomes. Perspectives on the cross-disciplinary collaboration was shared by each panelist, and they examined team interdependence in cancer care delivery through a transdisciplinary clinical case analysis. Themes and implications for team science and practice were discussed. The panel session cultivated the new relationships with team researchers who traditionally study teams in non-health care sectors. The session was well received and spurred meaningful discussion and connections.

International Conference on Social Media & Society
Christopher Wheldon attended the 7th annual International Conference on Social Media & Society, which took place in London, UK, July 11-13, 2016. The conference, which focused on best practices for studying the impact and implications of social media on society, showcased research from international scholars working in many fields including communication, computer science, education, journalism, and sociology. Dr. Wheldon presented a poster, titled “Surveillance of HPV-related vaccination discourse on Twitter in the United States: A case study of Kansas and Rhode Island,” which received the award for Best Conference Poster.

International Consortium for Action and Research on Tobacco
Mark Parascandola participated in a planning meeting for the International Consortium for Action and Research on Tobacco (ICART) at the offices of the Cancer Research UK in London, June 27-28, 2016. The purpose of the meeting was to share information about funding initiatives around international tobacco control research. Other participating organizations included the American Cancer Society, the Bloomberg Initiative, and the Norwegian Cancer Society. Several researchers and organizations are conducting research and training activities around tobacco economics and tax in low- and middle-income countries and will aim to coordinate activities in this area. A larger meeting is scheduled for the upcoming UICC World Cancer Congress in Paris, France, in November.

Poland-US Health Summit
Mark Parascandola participated as an invited speaker at the Poland-US Health Summit on June 17, 2016, in Warsaw, Poland. He spoke on the topic “The Role of Health Professionals in Tobacco Control.” The workshop included participation from the US Ambassador to Poland and was attended by 200 delegates from Poland and abroad. Dr. Parascandola also visited the Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Institute and Cancer Center in Warsaw to discuss potential collaboration on tobacco control research and the development of a network of tobacco control researchers in Eastern Europe. A regional workshop is scheduled for October 25-26, 2016, at the Curie Institute, with NCI as a co-sponsor. In addition, Dr. Parascandola met with other partners at the US Chamber of Commerce, the Polish National Centre for Research and Development, and the Polish Hospital Federation.

International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) Annual Meeting
Linda Nebeling, Tanya Agurs-Collins, David Berrigan, Heather D’Angelo, Stephanie Fowler, Shelley Bluethmann, and April Oh attended the annual meeting of the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, which took place in Cape Town, South Africa, June 8-11, 2016. At the meeting, Dr. Nebeling presented a poster on NCI's Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating (FLASHE) study and promoted the opportunity for public use of the data. Dr. Agurs-Collins presented a poster, “Fast Food and Body Weight Determinants of Inflammation in Older Adults,” while David Berrigan presented a poster titled “Physical Activity of Chinese Adolescents and Their Caregivers Measured in Multiple Domains.”

Heather D’Angelo presented a study examining whether the built environment moderates the association between individual psychosocial factors and dietary intake among youth in a talk titled “An Unhealthy Food Environment Near School Weakens the Positive Association Between Self-Efficacy and Teen Fruit and Vegetable Intake.”

Dr. Fowler presented a talk titled "Using an Internet-based Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool to Increase Physical Activity Motivation,” which explored the use of personalized risk information to influence physical activity-related cognitions, affect, and behavior. She also presented a poster titled "The Use of an Internet Platform to Evaluate Survey Questions on Physical Activity,” which examined the potential of a new methodology for pretesting and evaluating self-report surveys on cancer risk factors such as physical activity.

Dr. Bluethmann presented her study, titled “Exploring a Multi-component Approach to Physical Activity Assessment: Comparison of Cancer Survivors to the General Population,” as both an oral presentation and a poster. The aims of the study were to examine associations between several physical activity-related behavioral and performance measures and self-rated health, and to compare combined physical activity scores in cancer survivors and the general population to better understand the potential benefits of a multi-component approach to physical activity assessment.

Dr. Oh, who serves as the Co-Chair of the Policies and Environments Special Interest Group (SIG) at the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, co-led the transition of the group to new leadership and helped facilitate the meeting of the SIG. She also organized, moderated and presented at a preconference training session titled “Translation and Implementation of Evidence-based Interventions into Policy and Practice,” where sheled an interactive discussion comparing and contrasting different approaches to policy implementation across countries.

International Behavioral Trials Network (IBTN) Conference
Susan Czajkowski gave an invited plenary talk on the ORBIT model and behavioral intervention development at the inaugural International Behavioral Trials Network (IBTN) Conference, May 19-21, 2016, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Dr. Czajkowski is a founding member of the IBTN, whose mission is to facilitate global improvement in the quality of behavioral trials; provide the networks and capacity needed to undertake more and higher-quality trials; and develop a repository for existing recommendations, tools, and methodology papers on behavioral trials and intervention development.

Controlling Cancer Summit
Mukesh Verma was invited to speak on omics biomarkers and their implication in cancer control at the 2016 Controlling Cancer Summit in London, UK, May 17-19, 2016. Dr. Verma also talked about the NIH Common Fund Metabolomics and Roadmap Epigenomics programs and explained to the participants how they can participate in these programs.

Society for Clinical Trials (SCT) 37th Annual Meeting
Susan Czajkowski was invited to speak about using the ORBIT model in developing behavioral interventions for chronic diseases at the Society for Clinical Trials (SCT) 37th Annual Meeting, which took place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, May 15 -18, 2016. Dr. Czajkowski’s talk was part of a symposium organized by Dr. Simon Bacon of Concordia University in Montreal, titled "The International Behavioural Trials Network (IBTN): An International Effort to Improve the Rigor and Impact of Behavioural Clinical Trials."

6th Meeting of the WHO Tobacco Laboratory Network (TobLabNet)
Mirjana Djordjevic, in her role as a Temporary Advisor to the WHO Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation (TobReg), attended the 6th TobLabNet meeting May 9-11, 2016, in Masstrisht, Netherlands, along with colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the results of the last 7 years of global methods validation work. Specifically, the meeting covered validation studies and results; the application of standard operating procedures and laboratory needs; requests from the Conference of the Parties on smokeless and waterpipe tobacco; electronic nicotine delivery systems; design features that may influence the emissions of tobacco products; possible joint activities to further support collaboration and evidence building by TobLabNet for product regulation worldwide; and the sources, fate, and risks of aldehydes produced during tobacco smoking.

The International Congress on Obesity
Linda Nebeling attended the International Congress on Obesity, hosted by the World Obesity Federation, in partnership with the Canadian Obesity Network (CON), which took place in Vancouver, BC, Canada, May 1-4, 2016. At the conference, Dr. Nebeling provided an update regarding progress on the Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating (FLASHE) study and discussed plans for the future public release of FLASHE data.

GEOHealth Meeting
Gary Ellison and Damali Martin participated in the GEOHealth Annual Hub network meeting in May 2016 on the NIH main campus. GEOHealth, a trans-agency initiative led by the NIH Fogarty International Center (FIC) supports the development of leading institutions in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) to serve as regional leaders in collaborative research, data management, training, curriculum development, and policy support for research in environmental and occupational health. Dr. Ellison moderated a session of presentations from three of the GEOHealth Hubs and both Drs. Ellison and Martin participated in overall discussion topics that covered creating strong LMIC hubs, moving beyond research and training to inform interventions and policy and coordination of research and training opportunities across the GEOHealth network. Dr. Martin currently serves as the USG Project Collaborator for the GEOHealth Suriname Hub and the Dr. Gary Ellison serves as the NCI’s lead contact for GEOHealth program.

WHO Tobacco Free Initiative First Technical Consultation and Capacity Building for Tobacco Product testing
Mirjana Djordjevic attended the World Health Organization (WHO) Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI) meeting in New Delhi, India, April 27-29, 2016. This inaugural technical consultation and capacity-building meeting, hosted by the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India, convened regulators and experts to discuss the implementation and operationalization of tobacco product testing and disclosure. This was a key opportunity for national regulatory agencies to exchange local insights and global perspectives on how to improve their regulatory and technical capacity for product testing with the goal of establishing effective laws and regulations on disclosure.

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Upcoming Events

International Conference on Communication in Healthcare
Sylvia Chou will be attending the International Conference on Communication in Healthcare taking place in Heidelberg, Germany, September 7-10, 2016. The conference, which is organized by the European Association for Communication in Healthcare (EACH), will highlight current innovations in research, teaching, policy, and practice related to communication in health care from around the world. In addition to meeting with US and international scholars conducting research in health communication, Dr. Chou will be presenting a new qualitative study on communication around goals of care in the context of clinical trials.

Dietary Assessment Presentations
In September 2016, Amy Subar and Jill Reedy will deliver lectures at the 6th International Course in Nutrition Epidemiology at Imperial College, London, UK, September 13, 2016. Dr. Subar will lecture on exposure assessment of diet, including methods, databases, and introduction to validation; introduction to measurement error, underreporting and selecting a dietary instrument for research; and new technology and analytic techniques. Dr. Reedy will lecture on the Dietary Patterns Methods Project.

Dr. Reedy will also present on “National Cancer Institute Dietary Patterns Methods Project: Examining Multi-level Patterns to Support Policy for Cancer Control,” in a session on cancer outcomes associated with food, food contaminants, obesity, and dietary patterns: from science to policy, at the World Cancer Congress in Paris, France, in November 2016.

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