UNC Lineberger researchers present at CDC National Conference

The conference theme, “Visualizing the Future through Prevention, Innovation, and Communication,” focuses on opportunities for translating research into practice to improve public health programs.

The conference will help facilitate research collaborations, and may educate other public health leaders about interventions and programs that can help improve cancer screening and detection in other populations and locations, said Alison Brenner, PhD, MPH, associate program director of the Decision Support Lab at UNC’s Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research and the Carolina Cancer Screening Initiative at UNC Lineberger.

Multiple UNC Lineberger studies and projects will be highlighted in oral presentations:

• UNC Lineberger’s Stephanie Wheeler, PhD, will give a presentation called “Data-Powered Decision Making: One State’s Approach to Improving Colorectal Cancer Screening in Underserved Populations” in a session held Monday on using big data to inform health care interventions.
• A prevention/research session called “Show Me the Money: Tracking Impact of Prevention and Screening Efforts” will feature UNC Lineberger’s Justin Trogdon, PhD. His presentation is called “Impact of 9-Valent Human Papillomavirus Vaccine on HPV Vaccination Coverage of Youths, Ages 9–17, in North Carolina.”
• On Tuesday, Brenner will deliver a presentation called “Combining a Colorectal Cancer Screening Decision Aid and Patient Navigation Improves Decision-Making Processes and Screening Completion in Linguistically Diverse Primary Care Patients.” The presentation will feature results from a study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. The researchers found a strategy that doubled screening rates for colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States, among patient groups who historically have had lower rates. The senior author was UNC Lineberger member Dan Reuland, MD.