About the Applied Research Program
Overview
The Applied Research Program (ARP) is one of five programs in the
National Cancer Institute's (NCI's)
Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS).
The Applied Research Program's mission is to understand how and why cancer care and
control activities in the United States influence patterns of care and trends in cancer
incidence, morbidity, mortality and survival. Pursuit of this mission is possible through
ARP's support of methodologic research to improve survey data collection and evaluation of
existing data collected through grants, contracts, NCI divisions, and other agencies.
These data are used to evaluate patterns and trends in cancer-associated health behaviors
and risk factors, health care services, economics, and outcomes, including
patient-reported outcomes.
ARP & Its Branches
ARP supports research and evaluation activities in three branches:
The Office of the Associate Director sets Program priorities, determines ARP resource use
and staff responsibilities, and carries out initiatives that support the mission of the
ARP within the DCCPS.
Areas of Research
Research supported by ARP is targeted to:
- Monitoring risk and health behaviors and developing methods to assess these behaviors.
- Improving methods for assessing cancer-relevant exposures.
- Monitoring cancer screening behaviors in populations.
- Examining the dissemination of cancer treatment in populations.
- Advancing methods and systems for measuring and monitoring quality of cancer care.
- Estimating cost and benefit of cancer interventions at the population level.
- Describing and understanding cancer-related health disparities.
- Improving methods for questionnaire design and testing.
- Improving dissemination of efficacious cancer control interventions.
Research in each area informs policy decisions in cancer prevention, treatment, and
control. Staff also provide analytical support to other NCI cancer prevention and control
research programs for NCI-wide program guidance, evaluation, and policy development.
Research Tools & Surveys
- SEER-Medicare Linked Database.
SEER-Medicare data consist of a linkage of the clinical
data collected by SEER registries with claims for health services collected by Medicare.
These combined datasets can be used to assess patterns of care for persons with cancer,
use of tests and procedures, and costs of treatment.
- Dietary Assessment Instruments.
ARP has developed numerous tools for assessing dietary
intakes for use in surveys and studies. These include those designed to capture total diet
as well as short screeners.
- Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey.
This survey of tobacco use
contains information on a nationally representative sample of about 240,000 individuals.
The data have been used to monitor trends in tobacco use, conduct tobacco-related
research, and evaluate tobacco control programs.
- Physician Surveys. The ARP tracks the use of screening modalities, therapies, new
technologies, and other factors that may influence the national cancer burden. Staff
periodically assess physician practice to see whether research findings are having the
desired impact on physician knowledge and practice.
- National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Cancer Control Supplement.
ARP participates
in the NHIS by providing questions for the survey on cancer risk factors and screening and
by analyzing data upon completion of the national survey.
More detailed listings of Research Tools
and Surveys are available.
Working With Us
The ARP welcomes the opportunity to explore our areas of research with a broad range of
investigators. Some of the mechanisms used by scientists and students to work with us
include NIH Training Programs such as the Cancer Research Training Award or the Division
of Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program. ARP also works with NIH Guest Researchers and
Special Volunteers for individuals who donate their time and gain research experience.
ARP funding mechanisms for cancer research include the full range of NIH mechanisms,
including grants and contracts, educational training grants, small business innovation
research grants, and cooperative agreements.
ARP currently has Program Announcements calling for applications in areas including:
Additional funding information is available.
Contact Information
See Contact Us for information on how to contact the Applied Research Program.
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