Cancer Prevention & Control Prgm

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Since its establishment as a recognized program in 2001, the Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) program has matured into a highly interactive group that brings together scientists from across the entire VCU academic community. The CPC program has a research funding base of over $8.3 million dollars in annual direct support, of which more than $7.3 million is from the NIH or other peer-reviewed funding sources. Since the last review period three years ago, research from the CPC program produced 259 publications, of which 26% represented intra-programmatic collaborations, 7% represented inter-programmatic collaborations, and 2% represented both intra and inter programmatic collaborations. More specifically, in 2010, the number of intra programmatic collaborations sharply increased to 42%. In addition to these collaborations, 35 papers (14%), 15 of which were published in 2010 (17%), were co-authored by clinician and social scientist members of the CPC program. The program is committed to transdisciplinary research and brings together a diverse group of social and behavioral scientists from psychology, sociology, anthropology, health services, and economics with clinicians (oncologists, primary care physicians, palliative care specialists, and nurses), biostatisticians, epidemiologists, and geneticists to comprehensively explore fundamental and applied questions in cancer prevention and control. The CPC program has four major areas of scientific emphasis. The first area of research concentration seeks to understand the socioeconomic and cultural forces causing or contributing to disparities in cancer outcomes with a focus on both underserved minority populations and communities, and the medically indigent. Second, enhancement of cancer care outcomes through survivorship is concerned with the lived experiences of patients diagnosed with cancer. The third focuses on the cancer prevention and early detection through behavior change, healthy lifestyles, and tobacco cessation. The fourth emphasis area of the CPC program is developing an innovative line of research that enhances treatment delivery, cancer outcomes, and clinical trial enrollment by integrating communication and medical decision making research into clinical practice. Program members have also developed shared resources, including the Cancer Research Informatics and Services (CRIS) shared resource and the Behavioral Measurement Shared Resource (BeMSR).