Invitation Email

Trends in 21st Century Epidemiology Invitation Email

Subject: Trends in 21st Century Epidemiology Invitation

Dear Dr. ______,

In December 2012, the NCI held a workshop, Trends in 21st Century Epidemiology, on the future of cancer epidemiology. The workshop aimed to establish action-oriented priorities for cancer epidemiology research in the 21st Century. Training the 21st century epidemiologist with an increasing emphasis on collaboration, multilevel approach, knowledge integration and translation was a unanimous recommendation that echoed across the intellectual discourse. Based on this recommendation, we are gathering information about how cancer epidemiology training programs around the U.S. are currently preparing their trainees. We have developed a set of survey questions intended to obtain a snapshot of the current curricula in epidemiology, with a specific focus on cancer epidemiology, across several leading academic institutions. We feel strongly that the engagement and participation of academia and training institutions are essential to a fruitful discussion on the education and training of the next-generation of cancer epidemiology researchers. To begin the dialogue on training the 21st century epidemiologists and identify key action items, we plan to reach out to academic leaders currently teaching, training, and mentoring pre-doctoral and post-doctoral cancer epidemiologists.

We would greatly appreciate your involvement and collaboration in our effort. If you are willing to participate, we will set up a time for a phone call to conduct the survey when your schedule permits. We have attached an electronic copy of the survey questions and the consent form in this email for your preview.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. We would greatly appreciate it if you could let us know your decision by ________.

Thank you,

Tram Kim Lam, Sheri Schully, and Muin Khoury, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, EGRP Jackie Lavigne, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Office of Education

Margaret Spitz, Baylor College of Medicine

Details relating to the NCI-sponsored Trends in 21st Century Epidemiology Workshop:

For the aforementioned workshop, the NCI Epidemiology and Genetics Research Program (EGRP) used several avenues to engage with the epidemiology community, including Web-based blog posts, several published commentaries, and online dialogue via social media (@NCIEpi #trendsinepi on Twitter). Collectively, insights from these sources informed eight overarching recommendations to transform epidemiology practice and research to meet the needs and challenges of 21st century medicine and public health (see attached manuscript for the recommendations). As previously mentioned, 21st century epidemiology training emerged as a major focus, reflecting an urgent recognition of the rapidly evolving research landscape that confronts cancer epidemiologists, the need for the discipline to evolve to keep pace, and the critical importance of training future epidemiologists with the necessary skills to conduct epidemiologic research in the 21st century. Of relevance, four "drivers" were identified that will most likely influence the future of cancer epidemiology (see attached manuscript on the drivers):

(i) collaboration and team science;

(ii) new methods and technologies;

(iii) the need for a multi-level approach to epidemiologic research and intervention (e.g., integration of biological, behavioral, group and macro-social factors); and

(iv) the value of the application of knowledge integration methods and concepts (management, synthesis, and translation of scientific findings) to inform evidence-based recommendations/policies and to accelerate translation of etiologic findings into public health impact (see attached manuscript for more details on the drivers).