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Epidemiology and Genetics Research Program
Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences
June 23, 2005 |
EGRP BULLETIN
From the Office of
Edward Trapido, Sc.D., Associate Director
Epidemiology and Genetics Research Program
Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences
National Cancer Institute
This News Flash is to let you know about:
EGRP Staff Will Be At SER/CSEB Meeting, Toronto, June 27-30
EGRP staff will be attending the joint meeting of the Society for Epidemiologic Research and the Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics in Toronto, June 27-30. If you will be there, you are welcome to contact staff members via e-mail this week to arrange to meet.
Ginny Hartmuller, Ph.D., R.D., will be presenting the poster "The Breast Cancer Family Registry: Diet Collection Methodology for Studies of the Genetic Epidemiology of Breast Cancer" Monday evening, June 27. She also will be participating in the NIH Grant Writing Lunchtime Session scheduled for 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 29. (Dr. Hartmuller's e-mail: hartmulv@mail.nih.gov) Other staff who will be attending the meeting are:
Program Directors Sought for EGRP (Flyer on
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Individuals with a strong background in epidemiology who are motivated to develop and manage large research portfolios of grants in cancer epidemiology are sought to join EGRP as Program Directors. These individuals can help set the course of cancer epidemiology research on a national level.
EGRP is the largest funder of etiologic cancer epidemiology grants in the world. It supports university-based research in cancer epidemiology, including grants focusing on environmental, genetic, molecular, health disparities, tobacco, energy balance, and clinical epidemiology. EGRP also is poised to move into such areas as epigenetics, pharmacoepidemiology, and epidemiology-related nanotechnology research. Housed within the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS), the research supported should provide the basis for further development of interventions to reduce cancer incidence, mortality, and suffering. Candidates must have formal training in epidemiology and strong interest in developing and managing research initiatives for the extramural community (predominantly university-based) that will move forward our understanding of the etiology of cancer. Experience in administering grant programs is an asset but not required. Knowledge of and interest in transdisciplinary approaches which include epidemiologic principles is highly preferred. U.S. citizenship is required. Interested individuals should send their curriculum vitae to epimeeting@mail.nih.gov. See above link to flyer on the advertisement. Direct questions to Dr. Trapido at epimeeting@mail.nih.gov. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and National Cancer Institute (NCI) are Equal Opportunity Employers.
USC's Bernstein Joins EGRP Part Time
 Leslie Bernstein, Ph.D., of the University of Southern California/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, has joined EGRP to work part time in its offices through the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA). Among her responsibilities, Dr. Bernstein will work to identify ways to help investigators gain credit for participating team research, foster development of the Program's portfolios in clinical epidemiology and epidemiologic research on rare cancers, and help develop relationships with other federal agencies that fund cancer epidemiology. She is Professor, Preventive Medicine and AFLAC, Inc., Chair in Cancer Research, USC/NCCC.
Dr. Bernstein joins Margaret Spitz, M.D., M.P.H., of The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and Graham Colditz, M.D., Dr.P.H., of Brigham and Women's Hospital, who have been working part time as IPA staff at EGRP for more than a year.
EGRP Cosponsors Program Announcement for Pilot Studies in Pancreatic Cancer
EGRP is participating in a new trans-NCI Program Announcement (PA) for Pilot Studies in Pancreatic Cancer. The PA is to promote innovative research across multiple disciplines for better understanding of the biology, etiology, detection, prevention, and treatment of pancreatic cancer.
Examples of appropriate research areas include, but are not limited to: identification of genetic aberrations (e.g., mutations, epigenetic changes) or combinations of aberrations and alterations that initiate or promote pancreatic cancer; development of experimental models for human pancreatic cancer to facilitate the understanding of molecular carcinogenesis, to help to identify promising molecular targets, and to test new preventive/therapeutic strategies; exploration of molecular pathways using human cell lines and/or tissues to identify possible novel targets for prevention or therapeutic development; identification of markers for early detection of cancer; conduct of preclinical studies to identify candidate chemopreventive drug(s) and dietary factors for prevention and to characterize the molecular mechanism(s) of the agent's activity.
Other examples are: conduct of small exploratory clinical trials with a potential chemopreventive agent (e.g., a farnesyltransferase inhibitor or a
statin) assessing response via endoscopic ultrasound or another similar technology; development of early-stage clinical trials in pancreatic cancer prevention and therapy; assessment of any associations of tumor pathophysiology on tumor development, progression, and preventive/therapeutic response; conduct of exploratory studies to identify and evaluate biomarkers (with associated assay development) to determine prognosis and predict response to therapy in pancreatic cancer; evaluation of combination therapies for pancreatic cancer; identification of "new" environmental exposures (e.g., adverse energy balance) that may contribute to pancreatic cancer development, including adverse energy balance; assessment of the impact of pancreatic cancer on health-related quality of life of patients and their caregivers; and conduct of pilot surveillance studies and generation of survivorship registries.
This PA uses the Exploratory Grant (R21) mechanism, which encourages new exploratory and developmental research projects, and the Small Grant (R03) mechanism, which supports small research projects that can be carried out in a short period of time with limited resources.
Direct programmatic questions about cancer control, epidemiology, and survivorship research to Mukesh Verma, Ph.D., Acting Chief of EGRP's Analytic Epidemiology Research Branch (AERB); e-mail: vermam@mail.nih.gov.
This PA is cosponsored with NCI's Division of Cancer Biology (DCB), Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP), and Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD), and Office of Centers, Training, and Resources. Refer to the PA for information on contacts.
The Notice appeared in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, PA-05-116; release date, May 26, 2005.
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