Cancer Prevention and Control Program

CPC Program members stand together on the stage in a large room

Program Co-Leaders

Laura Rozek, PhD

Kenneth Tercyak, PhD

Program Overview

The scientific goals of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program (CPC) are to help alleviate the burden of cancer by elucidating the biobehavioral underpinnings of cancer risk and response, motivating lifestyle and associated changes, and informing cancer care delivery and policy. Research falls under three integrated areas of focus: (1) identifying risks associated with cancer causation and progression; (2) intervening to improve cancer outcomes and promote survivorship; and (3) conducting health services research to advise cancer practice and policy. This programmatic work addresses molecular and social determinants of health, and eradicates disparities and cancers highly prevalent within the catchment area, including screening-eligible cancers.

CPC appoints members who address the cancer prevention-control needs of our catchment area through research facilitated by and through clinical and community-based sites, including the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Prevention and the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities located in Southeast Washington, DC. CPC also leads the cancer center’s newly-established Georgetown Lombardi Institute for Cancer and Aging, Office for Global Oncology, and the Cancer Prevention Precision Control Institute.

Cross-cutting themes in CPC include investigations of genetic/genomic underpinnings of cancer risk and response (in collaboration with the Fisher Center) and cancer burdens and disparities.

The CPC Program is also home to an FDA-funded center for tobacco research, is an active contributor to many cancer center-wide initiatives, including cancer survivorship, and provides leadership to MedStar Georgetown University Hospital’s Smoking Treatment and Recovery (STAR) and Cancer Survivorship programs. Our educational efforts take place across Georgetown University, including the Master’s in Epidemiology and Tumor Biology graduate training programs. Additionally, the program organizes postdoctoral fellowship training in cancer control and population science, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute through an institutional T32 training grant.

Promoting Science and Research Collaboration

To help support programmatic science in all aspects of cancer control and prevention, CPC offers members several mechanisms that promote collaboration within and across the cancer center. This includes Idea Lab for brainstorming about early stage research concepts, Research Strategy Sessions for work-in-progress on ongoing studies and planned future directions, and Mock Study Section for peer review of extramural grant/contract applications prior to agency submission. Please contact the program’s leadership if interested in a hosted meeting. The program’s membership is also instrumental in leading translational working groups around focal and emerging areas of cancer control and prevention, including care delivery research, epidemiology and modeling, translational genomics, and in studying the burdens of cancer among older adults and long-term cancer survivors.

A reminder that all human subjects research protocols by CPC’s program members should be submitted to the CPC Discipline Group. Please use this link to initiate your submission; additional information can be found in the accompanying presentation.

Since the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCCC) is a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer center, we are required to report all LCCC therapeutic and non therapeutic studies to NCI on an ongoing basis. The Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) Program is part of the LCCC and hence all non therapeutic Interventional and Observational studies must be registered and reported in OnCore and CTRP in a timely fashion. For more information, please review the Cancer Prevention and Control Program (CPC) Clinical Trials Reporting Guidelines & Expectations  document.

For program members based at GU, please see important information about submitting joint IRB protocols for human subjects research across the consortium.

LCCC provides biostatistics support to all program members. To request biostatistics support, please complete this  form.

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Full Members

  • Gary Kwok, PhD, Assistant Professor, Center for Discovery and Innovation/JTCC

Affiliate Members

Postdoctoral Fellows