To achieve our goal of eliminating the suffering and death due to cancer, we must build and sustain strong research environments, support structures, collaborations, and communication channels that will enable us to quickly pursue new ideas, translate discoveries into innovative interventions, and disseminate evidence-based treatments and practices worldwide. We must nurture and maintain a cadre of scientists and health care professionals in a variety of disciplines, and we must strive to eliminate barriers to information, research opportunities, and adequate care. Therefore, NCI seeks to share its expertise and to facilitate capacity building and infrastructure development to strengthen cancer research and improve the quality of cancer care around the world. These efforts are especially important in nations that have limited resources.

The following are several examples of NCI's efforts aimed at increasing the capacity and building the infrastructure for high-quality cancer research and cancer care worldwide.

The Ireland-Northern Ireland-NCI Cancer Consortium to enhance the infrastructure for cancer research and cancer care across Ireland
In 1999, a historic memorandum of understanding was signed that established the Ireland-Northern Ireland-NCI Cancer Consortium. The primary goal of this consortium is to enhance the infrastructure for cancer research and cancer care across all of Ireland. In addition to facilitating interactions among the three represented research communities, the consortium has developed a number of joint programs covering the entire continuum of cancer.

The range of the consortium's activities can be gauged by the focus of its working groups: Scholar Exchange, Clinical Trials, Cancer Registries, Nursing, Information Technology/ Telecommunications, and Prevention. Several of these activities are discussed elsewhere in this portfolio, but one program particularly worth mentioning here is the effort to provide fellowships and training for Irish scientists and nurses at NCI's headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland (see Scientist Exchanges and Training Programs).

The Consortium's Prevention Working Group has been particularly active. In addition to participating in workshops in Ireland on topics such as "Cancer Prevention and Tobacco Control" and "Obesity and Cancer," the working group has dedicated itself to building an Ireland-wide community of prevention-oriented scientists and cancer caregivers.

A cooperative agreement between NCI and the King Hussein Cancer Center in Jordan to enhance medical sciences and improve cancer patient care in the entire Middle East region

Dr. Samir Khleif

In September 2002, the King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC) in Amman, Jordan forged a cooperative agreement with NCI for the purpose of enhancing medical sciences and improving cancer patient care in Jordan and the entire Middle East region. In support of the agreement, Dr. Samir Khleif, a clinical oncologist at NCI, was named as KHCC Director General.

One of the notable achievements of this agreement occurred in 2004, when NCI Director Andrew von Eschenbach and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson visited KHCC to launch its TELESYNERGY® suite, which will help foster collaboration between cancer specialists, facilitate professional education and training, and permit consultation in cancer research protocols and patient care throughout Jordan and the Middle East, at selected sites in the United States, and throughout Ireland (see also A telemedicine technology program to share expert advice and diagnostic input between the NCI and Ireland to improve patient outcomes).

Centers for AIDS Research program to establish a state-of-the-art AIDS research laboratory in Uganda
NCI, along with other institutes of the National Institutes of Health, cosponsors awards to establish and maintain Centers for AIDS Research (CFARs) at U.S. institutions that receive substantial AIDS funding from multiple NIH sources. The mission of each CFAR is to support a multidisciplinary environment that encourages collaboration across basic and clinical studies and promotes research in the prevention, detection, and treatment of HIV infection, AIDS, and AIDS-associated diseases, including cancer. Currently, there are 20 CFARs at U.S. research institutions.

One way in which the CFARs seek to accomplish their mission involves strengthening the capacity for HIV/AIDS research in developing countries. The Case Western Reserve University CFAR's activities in the African nation of Uganda serve as an example of these efforts. Building on its longstanding relationship with Makere University in Kampala, Uganda, the Case Western CFAR worked to establish the Uganda Laboratory Core in 1997. This laboratory facility created the capacity in Uganda to perform state-of-the-art immunology and virology research and to provide laboratory services for health care professionals throughout central Africa. It also provided opportunities to extend the scientific activities of the Uganda-Case Western Reserve University Research Collaboration to include studies in AIDS-related malignancies.

Expansion of the U.S.-based Comprehensive Cancer Control Leadership Institutes to serve the international community
In the last four years, the rapid growth and evolution of national cancer control planning has led to highly visible and successful initiatives by NCI's Cancer Information Service (NCI CIS) that are designed to improve public health in the United States. In these efforts, the NCI CIS joined with a U.S.-based group of experts, including the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Intercultural Cancer Council to develop the Comprehensive Cancer Control Leadership Institutes (CCCLIs). Domestically, CCCLIs provide an opportunity for highly skilled, influential individuals in the United States to take action together to support implementation efforts for a comprehensive cancer control approach in their respective states.

With the success of the CCCLIs in the United States, the CIS and its partners began to address the need for global comprehensive cancer control planning in 2004. The main role for the CIS in these international efforts is capacity building. In September 2004, the CIS helped form a new international comprehensive cancer control group that is investigating the feasibility and the interest in an international version of the CCCLIs. The group consists of federal and non-federal partners including experts from NCI, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Cancer Society, and the International Union Against Cancer (UICC). In 2005, the NCI CIS supported Peruvian cancer leaders in developing a cancer control plan for that nation. The first pilot of an international CCCLI workshop took place in Mexico City in June 2006, with participation from Brazil, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay. In addition, two workshops on cancer control planning are being held at the UICC's World Cancer Congress 2006 meeting in Washington, D.C.

Back to Top

< Previous Section