Cancer Prevention and Control
Research Program
Cancer Prevention & Control Program
The goal of the Cancer Prevention & Control Program is to apply the expertise of behavioral, basic, and clinician-scientists to conduct innovative and impactful cancer research that reduces Colorado’s cancer burden. To achieve this goal, CPC brings together outstanding transdisciplinary, well-funded scientists with strengths in public health, psychology, epidemiology, economics, basic science, and cancer care delivery. The program has 57 members, including 43 full members and 14 mentored members from many institutions and represents 24 departments and 7 schools; most members hold primary affiliations with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center, University of Colorado Boulder, and Colorado State University.
Scientific Goals:
- Discover and evaluate novel approaches to cancer prevention and early detection
- Conduct population-based cancer control interventions
- Identify and diminish cancer disparities through health services and policy research
Focus Groups:
- Population Sciences Research
- Behavioral Research in Primary and Secondary Prevention
- Chemoprevention Research
- Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship Research
Highlights:
Cancer Prevention and Control research has led to advancements in primary and clinical preventive services, statewide policies, and improved cancer survivorship. Cancer Prevention and Control investigators studied promising agents in pre-clinical studies, identified breast cancer risk factors in Hispanic women, developed and operated the Colorado Colorectal Screening Program, made advancements in the understanding of obesity and breast cancer, and affected cancer prevention and control policy across the state.
Cancer Prevention and Control Leadership
Stacy Fischer, MD
Program Co-Leader
Dr. Fischer is an associate professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine in the School of Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Fischer is a geriatrician by training and a practicing palliative care clinician and researcher. Her work has focused on examining treatment preferences and outcomes at the end of life through a disparity and equity lens. Building on this work, she has developed innovative lay patient navigator interventions to improve palliative care outcomes for Hispanics across the Catchment. She is part of the leadership team for the NIH-funded Palliative Care Research Cooperative and is actively involved in federally and foundationally funded rigorous multi-site palliative care research trials. She has served on NIH and PCRC study sections and is currently a standing member of NIH’s Interdisciplinary Clinical Care in Specialty Setting study section. Dr. Fischer co-leads an NIH-funded T32 in palliative care and aging. Through her work with a national Palliative Care T32 collaborative, the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and State of the Science, and the PCRC, Dr. Fischer is helping to shape the next generation of palliative care researchers. Since joining the Cancer Control and Prevention leadership team in 2021, she has worked closely with Drs. Studts and Agarwal to grow the survivorship and palliative care aspects of the program and champion disparities research across all the programs within the Cancer Center.
Jamie Studts, PhD
Program Co-Leader
Dr. Studts is a professor in the Division of Medical Oncology,
Department of Medicine in the School of Medicine at the University of
Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Studts is a funded cancer prevention and control
scientist for nearly 20 years. His research develops, evaluates, and
disseminates interventions to improve outcomes regarding lung cancer
screening and lung cancer survivorship. He has served on a broad range
of national study sections for NIH and DOD as well as international
review panels for the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute,
including a combination of special emphasis panels, standing study
sections, and career development panels. Studts has nearly 100
peer-reviewed scientific publications, and his current research is
funded by NCI and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation/LUNGevity
Foundation. He has served as co-leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program and co-director of
the Population Health Shared Resource since joining the faculty of the
University of Colorado School of Medicine in January 2020. As CPC co-leader, Studts oversees social and population science within the
CPC program—across the three program aims and two over-arching UCCC
themes. Studts works closely with Drs. Agarwal and Fischer to support
collaborative research within CPC, across the UCCC research programs,
and with cancer prevention and control investigators at other
NCI-designated cancer centers.
Events
Cancer Prevention and Control Virtual Seminar Series
All events are the second Wednesday of the month and held from Noon to 1 p.m. on Zoom.
Contact Ryan.Le@ucdenver.edu for questions.
Past Events
"Getting Your Affairs In Order" Needs a Technology Plan
Jed Brubacker
Aging and Cancer
Adventures in Keratinocye Carcinoma Chemoprevention
Martin A. Weinstock, MD, PhD
Psychedelic-assisted Psychotherapy for Advanced Cancer-related Psychiatric & Existential Distress
Stephen Ross, MD
Prevention of Obesity-Associated Colorectal Cancer: Mechanistic Approaches
C.V. Rao, PhD
Promoting Equality Through Implementation Research for Cervical Cancer Prevention
Prajakta Adsul, MBBS, MPH, PhD