Robert Winn, MD, director of the University of Illinois Cancer Center, is serving as chair of the planning committee of the National Cancer Policy Forum’s upcoming workshop titled “Applying Big Data to Address the Social Determinants of Health in Oncology.” The event will be held Oct. 28-29 at the National Academy of Sciences Building, 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.
The workshop will examine the social determinants of health in the context of cancer, and to consider opportunities to effectively leverage big data to improve health equity and reduce disparities. The workshop will feature invited presentations and discussion on topics such as:
- The impact of social determinants of health on cancer incidence and outcomes
- Ways to capture precise and meaningful data on social determinants of health in oncology
- Strategies for assessing exposure to environmental factors that may affect cancer incidence and outcomes
- Potential opportunities to reduce bias in capturing and applying big data in oncology
- Examples of how big data could be used to support health equity in oncology
The National Cancer Policy Forum is accepting abstract submissions for a poster session held in concert with the workshop. Learn more.
On Nov. 6, Winn, along with Karriem Watson, DHSc, MS, MPH; Joseph Harrington, The Mojo Group, LTD, Chicago; Terry Mason, MD, Cook County Department of Public Health, will present a paper entitled “African American Health Status: The Role of the Myth of Race and a History of Slavery in Adverse Health Outcomes” at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.
The paper states that on Nov. 2, 2018, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior announced the appointment of a 14-member commission to coordinate the commemoration of the 400-year anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to the English colonies. “While this may be something worth commemorating, it is certainly no cause for celebration,” the authors write.