About Us
The Department of Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) engages patients across the state and throughout Appalachia to improve cancer prevention, early detection, and quality of life; provides the highest level of educational experiences for learners and trainees; and engages in scholarship in the field of cancer prevention and control implementation and research. We focus on:
- Cancer etiology and risks, including cancer epidemiology (special populations, geographic variance, and cancer trends) and epigenetics/genetics
- Community engagement and outreach, including primary and secondary cancer prevention, health equity, and medical anthropology
- Rural health
- Cancer health communications, outcomes, and survivorship, including a cancer communications laboratory, health literacy, better use of electronic health records, mobile cancer screening, and the functional assessment, delivery systems, and biologic mechanisms of care for those who have completed active cancer treatment
Our department includes translational and population-based research, faculty, and programs to provide improved understanding and optimal care for the unique combination of geographic, social, economic, and genetic factors contributing to among the highest cancer rates and poorest outcomes in the country.
Our Mission:
By partnering with individuals, primary care providers, communities, population science researchers, and public health policymakers, we seek to reduce cancer health disparities and remove barriers to cancer care, thus improving outcomes across the state and beyond.