ENACCT and CCPH host First Gathering of Invitational Conference Series in College Park, MD

In September 2007, seventy representatives from the nation’s leading cancer centers, schools of public health, the pharmaceutical industry, Federal health agencies, community-based oncology practices and grassroots organizations convened in College Park, Maryland for the first of three invitational gatherings, to lay the groundwork for a strategic plan for improving community engagement in cancer clinical trials.

Communities as Partners in Cancer Clinical Trials: Changing Research, Practice and Policy is a joint initiative of ENACCT and CCPH (Community-Campus Partnerships for Health), with core funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the National Cancer Institute.

At the September gathering, the diverse group of conference participants discussed the issues and challenges facing the U.S. cancer clinical trial enterprise; the opportunities posed by community based participatory research (CBPR); and models of community engagement in other areas of therapeutic clinical research. Participants also worked in small and large discussion groups to identify institutional and system barriers that inhibit greater community engagement in cancer clinical trials and to explore the application of CBPR principles to key areas of the clinical research process.

Evaluations indicated that participants enjoyed the spirit of cooperation and shared learning at the conference. As one participant noted, “I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the other participants at the conference. Hearing other people's views is very thought provoking, and I brought home many new ideas.” Another participant summed up the group’s aspirations for the future, “I enjoyed the differing perspectives and thought that having such a dynamic group of individuals will ultimately bring together the different stakeholders to address the issue of engaging communities in cancer clinical trials.”

From October 2007 through February 2008, conference participants, subdivided into workgroups, will meet via conference call to develop specific sections of the strategic plan. The draft plan will then be circulated widely for comments before the conferees reconvene in March 2008 to refine and approve the plan. The third and final meeting of the conference series, in September 2008, will focus on implementing the plan, with particular emphasis on engaging key stakeholders, including funding agencies and policymakers.

For more information, contact project coordinator, Stacy Collins, at stacy.collins@enacct.org