September/October Features
Announcements
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S14-269NCI Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium & NVIDIA Foundation Cancer Research Projects in Computational Omics Proposal due date: October 8, 2014
PAR-14-267
Outstanding Investigator Award (R35)
Application due date: October 20, 2014. AIDS Application due date: January 7, 2015
Expires: January 8, 2015
NOT-OD-14-120
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Contract Solicitation (PHS 2015-1) Application due date: November 5, 2014
RFA-TW-14-001
Hubs of Interdisciplinary Research and Training in Global Environmental and Occupational Health (GEOHealth) - Research (U01)
Application due date: November 19, 2014
Expires: November 20, 2014
RFA-TW-14-002
Hubs of Interdisciplinary Research and Training in Global Environmental and Occupational Health (GEOHealth) - Research Training (U2R)
Application due date: November 19, 2014
Expires: November 20, 2014
RFA-GM-15-006 Training Modules to Enhance Data Reproducibility (R25) Application due date: November 20, 2014 Expires: November 20, 2014
NOT-ES-14-010 Notice of Intent to Publish Funding Opportunity Announcement for Environmental Influences during Windows of Susceptibility in Breast Cancer Risk (U01)
NOT-ES-14-011 Notice of Intent to Publish Funding Opportunity Announcement for Coordinating Center for the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program (U01)
PAR-14-323
Understanding Factors in Infancy and Early Childhood (Birth to 24 months) That Influence Obesity Development (R01)
Application due dates: February 5, 2015; October 5, 2015; June 5, 2016; February 5, 2017 Expires: February 6, 2017 PAR-14-339 NLM Grants for Scholarly Works in Biomedicine and Health Application due dates February 20, 2014; February 22, 2016 Expires: February 23, 2016 |
NOT-OD-14-085 Transition Plans for Reporting Sex/Gender, Race and Ethnicity Information in Non-Competing Type 5 Progress Reports
NOT-OD-14-138 Review of Grants Information for Fiscal Year 2014 |
Novel Approaches and Challenges to Data Harmonization: Maximizing the Use of Multi-level Data in Collaborative Studies
October 6-7, 2014
Rockville, MD
NCI Workshop on Broadening Epidemiologic Data Sharing
October 8, 2014
Rockville, MD
Research to Reality Cyber Seminar Series: Engaging Underserved Communities in Clinical Trial Recruitment
October 21, 2014; 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. EDT
TEAM Webinar Series: Modernizing the California Teachers Study Using a Tablet-Based Tracking System: "An All-in-One Coordinating Center"
October 29, 2014; 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. EDT
Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program Annual Meeting
November 19-21, 2014
San Francisco, CA
7th Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation: Transforming Health Systems to Optimize Individual and Population Health
December 8-9, 2014
Bethesda, MD
NCI Cohort Consortium Annual Meeting
December 10-12, 2014
Rockville, MD
International Cancer Screening Network (ICSN) Triennial Meeting
June 2-4, 2015
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Abstracts due: October 10, 2014
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EGRP encourages readers to submit items of interest to Cancer Epidemiology Matters E-News. EGRP reserves the right to decide whether or not materials are appropriate for inclusion.
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The Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program (EGRP) in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS) funds research in human populations to understand the causes of cancer and related outcomes.
The Program fosters interdisciplinary collaborations, as well as the development and use of resources and technologies to advance cancer research and translation of this research, which serve as the basis for clinical and public health interventions.
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Diet and Cancer: Where Do We Stand?
On September 10, 2014, NCI's Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program (EGRP) hosted Walter Willett, M.D., Dr.P.H., for a seminar titled "Diet and Cancer: Where Do We Stand?" Dr. Willett is the Fredrick John Stare Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition and Chair, Department of Nutrition at Harvard University's School of Public Health. During this seminar, he described key scientific and methodological lessons learned from his own and other key studies, as well as how these findings have influenced public health guidance and policy.
Dr. Willett addressed long-standing methodological challenges related to diet and cancer research, such as the complexity of the diet, study design issues, and the long time lag that often occurs between dietary intake and health outcomes. According to EGRP's Somdat Mahabir, Ph.D., M.P.H., host and moderator of the seminar, the lecture provided credible scientific evidence of major advances in the field, but also highlighted challenges and new areas for research investigations.
Dr. Willett noted that case-control studies are prone to serious bias and that large randomized trials of diet and cancer incidence may fail due to poor adherence and limited duration. He argued that the best evidence probably will come from replicated cohort studies in combination with short-term trials with intermediate markers.
Acknowledging that NCI's research investments have yielded dividends that have not been limited to cancer research, Dr. Willett highlighted several promising areas for future diet-related cancer and cancer etiology research, including studies of maternal diet and diet during childhood, but he noted that long-term follow-up will be important. Additionally, several potential underlying biologic mechanisms and biomarkers may be relevant to studies of diet and cancer, including inflammation markers, metabolomic profiles, and blood levels of hormones and insulin.
Learn more about EGRP's interests in these and other scientific areas.
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Image courtesy of the Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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NCI and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) co-sponsored a public meeting September 10-11, 2014, focused on methodological considerations for post-approval studies of non-oncological drugs and biological products, evaluating cancer as an adverse outcome associated with their use.
This was a unique opportunity for public- and private-sector stakeholders with various scientific backgrounds--such as pharmacoepidemiology, cancer epidemiology, toxicology, medical oncology, and biostatistics--to come together and begin a dialogue on the methodological considerations for these studies.
Four main topics were discussed during the meeting:
- Data resources and requirements to effectively study drug-cancer associations in the general population;
- Approaches to defining and ascertaining cancer outcome, including the value of examining specific cancers versus "all cancers" as an outcome;
- Exposure metrics selection for characterizing/defining drug exposure in studies evaluating the association between a drug exposure and the development of subsequent cancer; and
- Approaches to defining appropriate risk windows, latency, and lag periods when studying the association between a drug exposure and cancer.
EGRP's Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Branch (CTEB) focuses on etiologic and genomic factors that influence cancer progression, recurrence, survival, and other treatment outcomes, as well as factors associated with cancer development among individuals with underlying diseases and conditions. Andrew Freedman, Ph.D., Chief, CTEB, and Donna Rivera, Pharm.D., a Cancer Research Training Award Fellow in CTEB, presented jointly on approaches to defining and ascertaining cancer outcomes. Their presentation focused on the relevance of cancer biology to pharmacoepidemiology studies, including the mechanisms, genetic mutations, and latency periods of cancer, as well as what factors could be biologically important concerning the use of non-oncological medicines and cancer. In addition, Marie Bradley, Ph.D., a Cancer Prevention Fellow in CTEB, represented NCI on the FDA meeting organization committee and moderated the "Cancer Identification" session of the meeting.
The 2-day discussion concluded with collective ideas on how stakeholders may be able to improve study design, data quality, and the utilization of available cancer registries for future topical studies. The meeting's goal of starting a dialogue among stakeholders was accomplished, and that dialogue may lead to future conversations on this topic. View more details about the meeting, including the agenda, panelists, objectives, discussion topics, presentations, and background information.
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Image courtesy of Ruben Sargsyan
More and more, the value of social media (i.e., Internet-based and mobile technologies that allow users to create and exchange content) to advance science and scientists' careers is being discussed in the research and academic communities. A recent poll of Nature magazine readers provides some insight into how and why scientists are using social media tools like ResearchGate, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other online networks. Survey participants reported using social media to contribute to discussions in their field, connect with scientific peers, and share their published work.
Social media platforms also provide useful avenues for keeping up with the latest scientific news and research. For example, many research organizations are on Twitter, including the Society for Epidemiologic Research (@societyforepi), the American College of Epidemiology (@Join_ACE), and the American Association for Cancer Research (@AACR). A list of official NCI social media accounts can be found on the NCI website, and the NIH maintains an extensive list of newsletters, blogs, mobile apps, and social media accounts for multiple NIH Institutes and Centers.
The most recent addition to these lists is the @NCIEpiTraining Twitter account. Launched by NCI's intramural Division for Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG), @NCIEpiTraining provides information on research training and job opportunities in epidemiology within DCEG, as well as the latest published findings by Division researchers. The new account complements existing information available to the cancer epidemiology community through EGRP's @NCIEpi Twitter account, which tweets about news, resources, events, funding, and research publications related to cancer epidemiology. Workshops and conferences provide additional opportunities for cancer epidemiologists and other stakeholders to connect with NCI and each other. For example, @NCIEpi will be tweeting live from upcoming NCI-sponsored meetings, including the Novel Approaches to Data Harmonization Workshop (#DataHarmonization) being held October 6-7 and the Workshop on Broadening Data Sharing (#NCIEpiDataSharing) on October 8.
Remember, you don't have to be a Twitter user to view tweets. Just visit this list of official NCI twitter accounts to stay on top of all the latest news and research from NCI. If you do not currently use Twitter, but are considering the possibility, you can learn more at Twitter's Help Center.
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