First NCI Epidemiology Leadership Workshop:
Tobacco, Diet, and Genes
September 19-21, 2004, Chicago, Illinois
The
National Cancer Institute's (NCI) extramural research program in epidemiology,
the Epidemiology and Genetics Research Program (EGRP), recently held its
first annual leadership workshop with investigators focusing on tobacco,
diet/energy balance, and genetic research. EGRP is part of the Division
of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS) and manages a portfolio
of 500 cancer epidemiology research grants totaling $200 million per year.
Seasoned principal investigators funded through EGRP were asked to this
by-invitation-only-meeting held in Chicago, September 19-21, 2004. "We
are especially excited to have funded leaders in the field of epidemiology,
tobacco, and diet/energy balance sharing their time to identify future
research directions. We believe this will help lay the groundwork for
future NCI initiated and supported research," said Dr. Edward Trapido,
EGRP Associate Director. More than 100 grantees, intramural epidemiologists
with the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG), and EGRP
scientific staff attended
The 1st NCI Epidemiology Leadership Workshop was held to identify
barriers and gaps in cancer epidemiology and to advance solutions to study
of tobacco diet/energy balance, and genes. It also brought together grantees
to highlight state-of-the-science findings in these areas, provide opportunities
to explore new collaborations, and to showcase the scientific accomplishments
of the EGRP-supported research portfolio.
Integrate Epidemiology Into Initiatives
"The meeting comes at a time when biomedical research is faced with
many issues and initiatives that cut across scientific disciplines,"
said Dr. Robert Croyle, DCCPS Director. "Genomics and proteomics
research alone cannot answer epidemiologic questions. We need to know
how to integrate epidemiology in these new initiatives, and we need epidemiologists
to become more involved in planning them."
Keynote speaker Dr. Catherine DeAngelis, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal
of the American Medical Association, talked about the importance of
epidemiologic studies to public health. In another keynote address, Dr.
Susan Curry, presented on the relevance to epidemiology of the report
Fulfilling the Potential for Cancer Prevention and Early Detection,
by the Institute of Medicine's National Cancer Policy Board. She is lead
editor of the report and is Director, Institute for Health Research and
Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago.
Presentations by workshop participants included Dr. Laurence Kolonel,
Cancer Research Center, University of Hawaii, on diet, genes, and cancer;
Dr. Neil Caporaso, DCEG, on tobacco, genes, and cancer; Dr. Stephen Chanock,
DCEG and the Center for Cancer Research (CCR), on genetics in epidemiology;
Dr. Michael Thun, American Cancer Society, on cohort consortia; and Dr.
Patricia Hartge, DCEG, on case-control consortia. Also speaking were Dr.
Graham Colditz, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard University, on the
potential conflict between team science and tenure requirements; and Dr.
Jon Kerner, DCCPS, on knowledge transfer of epidemiology.
Follow-up Working Groups
Research working groups will be formed based on the breakout sessions
which focused on diet/energy balance epidemiology research, haplotyptes
versus genotypes, epidemiology of rare cancers, and susceptibility to
tobacco carcinogenesis. Extramural and intramural scientists will collaborate
in the groups to generate new scientific ideas and hypotheses.
Other small working groups will be established to assist in developing
research initiatives within and outside NCI. EGRP's Drs. Virginia (Ginny)
Hartmuller, Sandra Melnick, and Deborah Winn will play lead roles in the
organization and stewardship of these teams.
To further translation of research findings, EGRP will assess whether
the information presented at the workshop has potential for development
of intervention studies. During the workshop, participants were encouraged
at the workshop to think about scientific issues and questions that will
move results from epidemiology studies into public health practice.
Increased Collaboration
Increased collaborations with between EGRP and the extramural research
community is key as evidenced by the workshop, which was planned with
the assistance of Dr. Margaret Spitz, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson
Cancer Center. She and Dr. Colditz spend time working each month at EGRP
under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA).
A workshop report will be prepared and posted along with the presentations
on EGRP's Web site. To be informed when this information becomes available,
contact epimeeting@mail.nih.gov.
Posters that were presented at the meeting and highlights of the proceedings
will be a resource for researchers interested in diet, tobacco, and genetics.
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