Ongoing Global Health Projects

DCCPS Staff Assist Taiwan Colleagues in Developing Cancer Moonshot Goals

Huann-Sheng Chen (left), Chien‐jen Chen (center), and Rocky Feuer (right)

Rocky Feuer and Huann-Sheng Chen (Statistical Research and Applications Branch, SRP) worked with Henry Rodriguez (Director, Office of Cancer Clinical Proteomics Research) and Ana Robles (Program Director, Office of Cancer Clinical Proteomics Research) to assist representatives from Taiwan in developing Cancer Moonshot goals. They selected 2050 mortality goals for three major cancers in Taiwan (lung, liver, and gastric cancers) and elucidated activities to sustain cancer control activities in three other cancers (female breast, colorectal, and esophageal cancers). Most of the work was done by teleconference (at odd hours), but the final results were presented during a visit by Dr. Chien‐jen Chen (chair of the workgroup representing Taiwan) at NCI on October 13, 2022. Drs. Bertagnolli, Lowy, and Gopal (Director, Center for Global Health) and our NCI workgroup attended for NCI.

Dr. Chien-jen Chen (trained as an epidemiologist) was vice president of Academia Sinica, a prestigious science institute in Taiwan, between 2011 and 2015. In 2016, he became vice president of the country of Taiwan, and after serving his term, he returned to Academia Sinica as a research fellow. Dr. Huann-Sheng Chen grew up in Taiwan and worked at Academica Sinica early in his career. Dr. Chien-jen Chen is very well known and respected in Taiwan, and Huann-Sheng considered it an honor to meet him in person. The DCCPS staff noted that it was a pleasure to work on this interesting collaboration.

WCRF International’s Global Cancer Update Programme

Emily Tonorezos serves as formal observer for the World Cancer Research Fund International’s Global Cancer Update Programme, produced in partnership with the American Institute for Cancer Research, the World Cancer Research Fund in the UK, and the Wereld Kanker Onderzoek Fonds in the Netherlands. Dr. Tonorezos joined the group at their London meeting in early December 2022 to continue to analyze global research on how diet, nutrition, and physical activity affect cancer risk and survival.

Ireland-Northern Ireland-NCI Cancer Consortium Implementation Group

Emily Tonorezos also participates in the Ireland-Northern Ireland-NCI Cancer Consortium Implementation Group. This group of scientists and advocates from the United States, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland was established to work alongside the consortium to identify top cancer care delivery and survivorship research priorities, establish links with survivorship centers and research groups across Ireland and NCI to mitigate duplication of efforts, build capacity for multi-professional cancer care delivery and survivorship research, and build public engagement to ensure patient-informed cancer care delivery and survivorship research initiatives.

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Global Health Research and Training Initiatives

Fall 2022 DCCPS International Interest Group (IIG)

The IIG met on November 10, 2022, to hear two presentations highlighting the involvement of artificial intelligence and regulating health misinformation as tools for improving healthcare. The first presentation, by Maristela G. Monteiro, provided an overview of the Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO) new “PAHOLA” Artificial Intelligence tool for alcohol use education. Dr. Monteiro is the senior advisor of alcohol and substance abuse at PAHO. She has over 10 years of experience in the area of alcohol and substance abuse.

Wen-Ying Sylvia Chou presented on the topic of Health Misinformation and Global Health, describing her contributions to the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) CMSS-WHO-NAM initiative on identifying credible of information. Their report aims to inform platforms and nonprofit and for-profit entities and individuals globally about how to assess credibility of sources of health information. In addition to Dr. Chou’s role as a program director in the Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch of DCCPS’s Behavioral Research Program (BRP), Dr. Chou has led a number of NIH initiatives on the role of technology and social media in various areas of health, including funding initiatives on the impact of the changing communication landscape on substance use and addiction as well as cancer prevention and control.

FDA Award to WHO for Building Research Capacity in Global Tobacco Product Regulation

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced in the NIH Guide its intention to accept and consider a single-source application for award to the World Health Organization for the Building Research Capacity in Global Tobacco Product Regulation Program. The purpose of the program is to identify, support, develop, conduct, and coordinate research efforts relating to tobacco control laws and rules in foreign countries that will directly inform and support FDA’s exercise of its authority to regulate the manufacture, distribution, marketing and sale of tobacco products in the United States. The program will advance the mission of FDA's Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) by utilizing WHO Member States’ expertise and extensive international contacts in global tobacco control, as well as WHO's own programmatic expertise, to inform and support adequate manufacture, distribution, and market regulations of tobacco products for the protection of public health in the United States. The program will also provide a universal public benefit by creating opportunities for collaboration and research development globally, thereby resulting in better-informed and effective tobacco product regulation around the world, and increased knowledge in the public sphere regarding tobacco use and its harms globally. FDA CTP has solicited input from BRP’s Tobacco Control Research Branch with respect to common research and funding priorities.

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Meeting Reports

Tobacco Control Research Branch and French National Cancer Institute (INCa) Cohost Workshop

The National Cancer Institute (DCCPS’s Carolyn Reyes-Guzman, Rachel Mayne, and Chipper Dean, and Mark Parascandola [CGH]) and the French National Cancer Institute (INCa) co-hosted the Current State of Tobacco Cessation Interventions and Tobacco Prevention Research Workshop in Paris, France, November 16-17, 2022. Researchers and grantees from the United States and Europe met to discuss these topics and determine research gaps and potential areas for further research and collaborations. April Oh also attended as a session moderator and discussant.

IACR Virtual Scientific Conference

Brenda Edwards participated in the 2022 annual Virtual Scientific Conference of the International Association of Cancer Registries (IACR) on November 8-10, 2022. She served as a co-moderator of a plenary session on cancer staging and of the keynote presentation on cancer surveillance and indigenous populations in the United States. Dr. Edwards was also recognized with one of two IACR Honorary Membership awards.

Global Cancer Stigma Research Workshop

Robin Vanderpool, Katie Heley, and NCI Center for Global Health’s Vidya Vedham organized and led a 2-day workshop on global cancer stigma across the cancer control continuum and among domestic and global communities. The workshop was held September 28-29, 2022. Additional thanks to Abigail Muro, Yuki Lama, Naomi Greene, Maggie Correa-Mendez, and Tobacco Control Research Branch (TCRB) contractor Strategix for their assistance. Emily Tonorezos and Bill Klein both served as discussants for this workshop.

Colloquium Presentation at ANU

Todd Horowitz gave a virtual colloquium talk at the Australian National University (Canberra, Australia) on September 27, 2022, titled “Using cognitive psychology to improve neuropsychological assessment of attention: cancer-related cognitive impairments and beyond.”

Workshop Highlights Impact of Preventive Interventions in the Netherlands

Femke van Nassau, PhD

Frank Perna helped coordinate a joint and internal DCCPS Health Behaviors Research Branch - Implementation Science meeting alongside David Chambers and Arline Sanchez, featuring exercise and implementation scientist Femke van Nassau. Dr. van Nassau spoke September 21, 2022, on the topic “Are we having public health impact? Implementation Science applied in preventive interventions in the Netherlands.”

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