Cancer Prevention and Control Program

Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem NC

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

The Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) Program is focused on scientific discovery across the cancer continuum?from primary prevention to survivorship?that translates into clinical, community, and policy strategies to improve cancer outcomes. The CPC Program has 25 members in 13 departments led by a new leadership team appointed in 2015. Kristie Foley, Ph.D., is the Program Leader and Associate Director for Population Sciences, and Kathryn Weaver, Ph.D., serves as Program Co-Leader and Assistant Director of the Office of Cancer Health Equity. This team guides the scientific direction of the Program, education and training of post-doctoral fellows and early-stage faculty, and integration of CPC with other Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center (WFBCCC) Programs. Program members conduct research that is relevant to the WFBCCC catchment area: 4.1 million residents in 58 counties, which are predominantly Appalachian (n=46), non-metropolitan/rural (n=37) regions. The 23,100 annual new cancer cases and 9,000 cancer deaths in the WFBCCC catchment area are 3% and 5% higher than nationwide rates for all cancers combined. Addressing cancer disparities is a priority of the CPC Program?s research and a cross-cutting theme throughout its work. The CPC Program conducts rigorous, hypothesis-driven, and translatable research that is responsive to two Specific Aims to 1) Improve modifiable risk factors that will reduce cancer incidence, morbidity, and mortality, with a strategic focus on tobacco control and obesity; and 2) Enhance survivorship outcomes, with a focus on quality of life, while incorporating patient-reported outcomes into survivorship care and addressing the symptoms and long-term effects of cancer treatment. These Aims guide CPC programmatic strategies, which include hypothesis-driven research tied to catchment area needs; integration with key institutional resources such as the Wake Forest National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program; collaboration with other WFBCCC Programs, regional Comprehensive Cancer Centers, and community partners; education and training of scientists committed to population health research; and organizational strategies that promote the scientific vision and Aims of the CPC Program. Program members have $5.2M in peer-reviewed, cancer-related direct funding of which 58.7% is from the NCI (excluding $.9M in peer-rev training grants). In this funding period, CPC members produced 370 publications; 44.3% were intra-programmatic, 13.2% were inter-programmatic, and 79.5% were inter-institutional, with 11.1% of publications in journals with an impact factor >10. The CPC Program is in a dynamic new phase: 3 new faculty members were recruited in the past year; and 4 to 5 more new faculty recruitments will occur in the next 5 years.