Happy New Year! We are pleased to release the first DCCPS International Activities newsletter of 2021. The goal of this newsletter is to provide updates, highlights, and accomplishments of the DCCPS staff involved in global health activities at NCI and NIH, as well as other partnering organizations. DCCPS continues to play a critical role in addressing the cancer burden domestically and internationally and has elevated the importance of global research capacity, evidence-based practices, and partnerships to advance cancer control global efforts. As such, DCCPS collaborates and partners across NIH and with other organizations on global health initiatives, provides funding opportunities to accelerate progress in cancer control and population science research, and encourages grantees and research staff participation in national and international scientific meetings. We welcome your attendance to the DCCPS International Interest Group meetings and encourage you to share with us any feedback or interests in global health. We look forward to a productive year leading the DCCPS International Interest Group as well as continuing to make this newsletter a valuable resource to share international and global health activities.

Antoinette Percy-Laurry, DrPH, MSPH
Tram Kim Lam, PhD, MPH
Co-chairs, DCCPS International Interest Group

Ongoing Global Health Projects

The World Health Organization (WHO) 2020 Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior

The WHO 2020 Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior were released on November 26, 2020. Rick Troiano was a member of the Guidelines Development Group that informed the drafting of the Guidelines. Rick is a first author or co-author on several papers published in tandem with the release of the guidelines in the British Journal of Sports Medicine and the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.

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Global Health Research and Training Initiatives

Workshop on Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health

Cynthia Vinson worked with NCI’s Center for Global Health (CGH) in co-sponsoring implementation science training with the American University of Beirut through the Workshop on Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (WONDIRH), November 30 - December 21, 2020. The objective of this workshop was to provide participants with a broad foundation in conducting dissemination and implementation (D&I) research in health. The workshop utilized a combination of online coursework (six modules) and four 90-minute virtual (one per week) interactive training sessions that covered topics of D&I theories, models, and frameworks; stakeholder engagement and partnership in D&I; research methods and study designs for D&I; and measures and outcomes for D&I. The workshop was organized by the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Clinical Research Institute at the American University of Beirut, in collaboration with NCI.

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Noteworthy Reports

Special Issue Addresses Health Misinformation on Social Media

On October 1, 2020, NCI and the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) published a special issue highlighting cutting-edge research that addresses critical issues surrounding health misinformation on social media. Guest editors Sylvia Chou and Anna Gaysynsky facilitated this collection of 20 new studies and commentaries that addresses topics such as vaccine misinformation, unproven cancer treatments, and rumors about emerging infectious diseases. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is translating into Spanish several of the issue’s articles pertinent to Latin American and Caribbean countries, to make them more accessible. Additionally, AJPH is developing a Chinese podcast on the supplement, with Dr. Chou providing the introduction in Chinese.

Global Survey Describes Survivorship Care for Breast and Colorectal Cancer Survivors

Michelle Mollica and Paul Jacobsen, in collaboration with CGH’s Sudha Sivaram and Cathy Muha, led a survey of stakeholders from 27 countries to describe survivorship care for breast and colorectal cancer survivors globally. You can view the publication, “Follow-up care for breast and colorectal cancer across the globe: survey findings from 27 countries ,” in JCO Global Oncology.

Article Focuses on Endocrine Health in Childhood Cancer Survivors

Emily Tonorezos co-published a study in Pediatric Clinics of North America with researchers from the Netherlands and the US. “Endocrine health in childhood cancer survivors ” highlights the importance of regularly monitoring and systematically screening childhood cancer survivors for endocrine late effects, and provides a summary of the most commonly reported endocrine late effects in that population.

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Meeting Reports

Virtual Symposium Aims to Spur Cancer Survivorship Care in Hong Kong and Other Parts of the Asia-Pacific Region

In December 2020, Emily Tonorezos and Paul Jacobsen each presented as part of a virtual symposium sponsored by the University of Hong Kong Jockey Club Institute of Cancer Care. The symposium, “How to prevent lost in transition? The way forward to optimise cancer survivorship care,” was designed to create a platform for oncology clinicians, nurse specialists, and allied health professionals in Hong Kong – and in other parts of the Asia-Pacific region – to discuss and brainstorm about the development of cancer survivorship care services, ultimately to inspire local clinicians to develop and implement cancer survivorship care. Dr. Jacobsen focused on cancer survivorship care models, while Dr. Tonorezos spoke about the goals of NCI’s Office of Cancer Survivorship and her own work with adult survivors of childhood and young adult cancers.

Webinar Promotes Spanish Translation of the NCCOR Youth Compendium

David Berrigan participated in a National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research’s (NCCOR) webinar on October 29, 2020. The webinar was held in Spanish to promote the Spanish translation of the NCCOR Youth Compendium, a list of 196 common activities in which youth participate and the estimated energy cost associated with each activity. NCCOR is a collaboration among NIH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the US Department of Agriculture.

Workshop Focuses on Swiss Council’s Approach to Funding Research

On Oct 28, 2020, Kara Hall served as an invited guest for an internal workshop spearheaded by the President of the Swiss National Science Foundation’s (SNSF) Research Council . The meeting, which included approximately 20 SNSF leaders and key staff, focused on reconfiguring the SNSF’s approach to funding research to account for supporting collaborative and interdisciplinary research. Dr. Hall provided an external perspective on the discussion.

Presentations Provide Guidance on the NIH Grants Process to the ForMIND Institute

Krista Zanetti gave two presentations to the ForMIND (Forum Peneliti Muda Indonesia) Institute on October 24, 2020: “National Institutes of Health grants process” and “How to write a winning grant proposal: a perspective from grant funders.” The ForMIND Institute is an Indonesian non-profit organization, focusing on creating and enhancing high-quality research and development, community empowerment and services, and high-quality education.

International Cancer Education Conference

Robin Vanderpool delivered a plenary presentation, entitled “Using cancer communication to address social determinants of health,” at the virtual 2020 International Cancer Education Conference on October 15, 2020. The conference, held October 12–16, was co-organized by the American Association for Cancer Education, the Cancer Patient Education Network, and the European Association for Cancer Education, and drew in educators, physicians, nurses, public health professionals, researchers, students, and social workers from around the world.

Implementation Science in Global Health Action Group

NCI held its second Implementation Science Cancer Consortium (ISCC), September 22-23, 2020, which brought together researchers, practitioners and other experts in the implementation science field to identify gaps, challenges, cancer control priorities, and the opportunity for synergies across ISCC action groups. Antoinette Percy-Laurry was the NCI facilitator for the new Implementation Science in Global Health action group along with extramural researchers Donna Shelley (NYU) and Anne Rositch (JHU). The action group generated a range of priority areas for global health with a focus on several themes such as building capacity, demystifying implementation science, context in diverse settings, engaging stakeholders, and identifying opportunities for studying methods for sustaining and scaling evidence-based interventions in LMICs. The global health action group will continue their efforts to move action items forward within the new year.

Global Environmental and Occupational Health (GEOHealth) Network Meeting

On September 17, 2020, Curt DellaValle introduced and moderated a discussion session at a virtual GEOHealth Network Meeting : “Barriers and facilitators to cancer epidemiology in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) related to environmental exposures.” The GEOHealth program supports institutions in LMICs in advancing their environmental and occupational health work through research, research training, informing policy development, and outreach activities. The program sponsors seven regional Hubs – Bangladesh, Caribbean, Eastern Africa, India, Peru, Southeast Asia, and West Africa – through two linked awards, one to an LMIC research institution and the other to a US institution that manages the training. The meeting, hosted by the Fogarty International Center (FIC), was attended by GEOHealth PIs, trainees, hub-affiliated researchers, and funders. Damali Martin was also a moderator for the session.

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