Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (CPCRN)
With $3.375 Million in Renewed Funding, UNC-Chapel Hill Hosts Kickoff Meeting of Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network
Fifty-three cancer researchers from eight different academic institutions around the country and their federal agency partners met in Chapel Hill on January 27 and 28 to launch the next five years of the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (CPCRN). In September 2019, the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill $3.375 million over the next five years to continue serving as the CPCRN coordinating center as well as to continue participating in the network as one of its eight collaborating centers. The University of Arizona is one of two NEW centers!
For the 2019-2024 cycle of funding, two new collaborating centers have joined CPCRN and six centers will rejoin or continue to participate in the network with renewed funding. The centers and their principal investigators are as follows:
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University of Arizona: Cynthia Thomson, PhD
- Joined by: Drs. Scott Carvajal, Maia Ingram, and Tomas Nuno, and Ms. Rosi Vogel and Ms. Meghan Skiba of the Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and the University of Arizona Cancer Center
- Community partners: Patty Molina, Lizzie Garcia and Tatiana Enriquez of Mariposa Community Health Center
- Emory University: Cam Escoffery, PhD
- University of Iowa: Natoshia Askelson, PhD
- New York University-City University of New York : Chau Trinh-Shevrin, DrPH
- University of South Carolina at Columbia: Daniela Friedman, PhD and James R Hébert, ScD
- Colorado School of Public Health: Betsy Risendal, PhD
- University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill: Jennifer Leeman, DrPH, MDiv and Alison Brenner, PhD
- University of Washington: Peggy Hannon, PhD and Linda Ko, PhD
- CPCRN Coordinating Center: Stephanie Wheeler, PhD
Initiated in 2002, CPCRN is the largest and longest-standing thematic research network of the Prevention Research Center (PRC) program, the CDC’s flagship program for preventing and controlling chronic diseases. Eight PRCs from around the country participate in CPCRN, including the University of Arizona PRC. Researchers from each PRC collaborate within and across their centers to produce research related to the implementation of evidence-based approaches to reduce the burden of cancer, especially in disproportionately affected populations. Since 2004, CPCRN members have produced 1,796 publications and obtained over $669 million in grant funding.
“We are delighted to join this prestigious group of academic institutions and community partners committed to reducing the burden of cancer particularly for under-served communities. The Cancer Prevention & Control is the largest thematic research network within the CDC Prevention Research Centers. With our PRC and the University of Arizona, NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center co-located on the Health Sciences campus, we are uniquely positioned to advance cancer prevention and control science,” said Cynthia Thomson, the principal investigator for the CPCRN at the University of Arizona. “CPCRN affords us an opportunity to engage in high impact programming across the U.S. while striving to address the unique needs for cancer prevention and control in Southern Arizona,” stated Rosi Vogel the program’s coordinator and an active advocate for health in Hispanic populations.
Over the next five years, CPCRN researchers will contribute to cross-center projects to extend research findings across the cancer control continuum into practice. At this week’s meeting, researchers developed consensus around potential thematic areas for the projects, to be coordinated by cross-center workgroups. The proposed areas of focus include cancer survivorship which will be co-led by the University of Arizona faculty; cancer among rural populations; organization theory in implementation science; applied systems science; implementation, quality improvement, and technical assistance; health behaviors; health equity and social determinants of health; and mental health and well-being. Additionally, a new CPCRN scholars trainee program is planned. U Arizona will support the scholars program development and is actively engaging students in the local Arizona CPCRN efforts.
Each center will complete a five-year core center project that will study the implementation of cancer control interventions directed at one or more levels of the health care context, which may include the patient, a health system, a community, or a wider political or economic context that impacts health outcomes. Building on a multi-year partnership with the Mariposa Community Health Center, we will address the health needs of Hispanic cancer survivors.
“As a CPCRN center, we have the opportunity to build on our long-term partnership with Mariposa CHC and other organizations in Arizona” said Maia Ingram, investigator for the Arizona collaborating center and Co-Director of the Arizona Prevention Research Center. “By connecting our work in Arizona with other network centers, we will be able to advance the science of what works across diverse populations and settings nationwide.”
The Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (CPCRN) is a national network of academic, public health, and community partners who work together to reduce the burden of cancer, especially among those disproportionately affected. Its members conduct community-based participatory cancer research across its eight network centers, crossing academic affiliations and geographic boundaries. The CPCRN is a thematic research network of the Prevention Research Centers (PRCs), which are CDC’s flagship program for preventing and controlling chronic diseases.
The Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network is supported by Cooperative Agreement Number (U48 DP006400) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The findings and conclusions are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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