Coordinating Center for the Cohorts for Environmental Exposures and Cancer Risk Program

While scientific and medical advances have dramatically increased our ability to prevent, detect and treat
cancer, gaps remain regarding the impact of environmental exposures—particularly chemical and physical
factors—on cancer risk. The overarching goal of this application is to build collaborative infrastructure and
facilitate transdisciplinary scientific research for enhancing our understanding of environmental exposures
influencing cancer etiology, and the genetic, behavioral, and structural factors that modify risk across diverse
populations. We propose to serve as the Coordinating Center for the Cohorts for Environmental Exposures and
Cancer Risk (CEECR) Program. Our mission is to provide intellectual leadership and logistical and
collaborative infrastructure for the CEECR program by integrating efforts across the CEECR cohorts,
facilitating research activities, identifying opportunities for cross-CEECR collaboration, and disseminating
research findings through partnerships with stakeholders. We will draw upon extensive experience
coordinating large-scale consortia, conducting prospective cancer epidemiology studies, and engaging with
community partners to support the CEECR Program. We will facilitate cooperation across the CEECR cohorts
to achieve their UG3/UH3 milestones and realize their full potential as an integrated sustained powerful source
of knowledge for characterizing the impact of environmental exposures on cancer risk. Specific Aims include:
1) providing intellectual leadership and multidisciplinary scientific expertise, establishing a governance
structure, and identifying opportunities to catalyze cross-cohort collaboration; 2) assisting with the identification
of common data elements and the integration of research efforts regarding biological samples and innovative
technologies; 3) facilitating innovative transdisciplinary research by developing evidence-based infrastructure
to support collaboration, coordination, communication, outreach and engagement, and career enhancement;
and 4) fostering resource sharing by CEECR members with external researchers and stakeholders—including
the deposition of data in NIH repositories—to accelerate research and move findings towards translation and
prevention. Our multidisciplinary team includes experts in cancer epidemiology, environmental health, team
science, cancer health disparities, cancer biology, toxicology, data science, applied public health practice,
outreach/community engagement, and research administration. The University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer
Center provides the ideal environment for supporting the Coordinating Center due to its resources and
established relationships with local and national research and advocacy organizations. The CEECR
Coordinating Center will use multiple innovative approaches to leverage program members’ common passion
for elucidating the role of environmental factors in cancer etiology, provide expanded opportunities for
collaboration, and enable the CEECR Program to bring about substantive reductions in the cancer burden
paying special attention to populations historically excluded from the full benefits of scientific advances.

Grant Number: 5U24CA265813-05
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Lisa CadmusBertram