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Research Programs

Discipline-based Programs

Reduction of Cancer Risk and Disparities

Collaborative Interactions

Collaborative Interactions

Training pre- and postdoctoral fellows can lead to new risk reduction innovations, as well as providing another vehicle for communication among program members and DF/HCC members on doctoral committees and post-doctoral research projects. Three programs within Population Sciences — Cancer Risk Reduction, Cancer Epidemiology, and Outcomes Research — have collaborated in training pre- and postdoctoral fellows through the Harvard Education Program in Cancer Prevention and Control (NCI). The goal of this training is to create public health and clinical professionals who are:

  • Knowledgeable about the current state of cancer prevention
  • Expert in a specialized research area where they may generate new knowledge and public health practices to advance cancer prevention
  • Skilled in policy analysis
  • Sufficiently anchored in professional networks to monitor developments in cancer prevention and disseminate knowledge into cancer control programs at various institutional levels.

To date this program has trained 35 pre-doctoral fellows and 23 post-doctoral fellows.

Another collaborative program is the Massachusetts Cancer Prevention and Control Network, founded in 2002 as a collaborative effort between the HPRC, Boston University Prevention Research Center, DF/HCC, and a Steering Committee of community and academic representatives. The goals of the MCPCRN are to foster and facilitate cancer prevention intervention and dissemination research by:

  • Translating priorities defined by the Guide to Community Preventive Services into research aimed at addressing critical gaps in evidence for cancer prevention interventions
  • Applying community-based participatory research methods to conduct collaborative research

The Harvard Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity is an additional avenue for collaboration. This Center focuses on improving nutrition and physical activity and reducing obesity and chronic disease risk in children and youth. The Center conducts community-based participatory research with more than 80 community partners in Massachusetts and Maine.