More than 100 attendees from across the city, state and region came to UNMC on April 30 to attend the Midwest Data Partner’s Workshop hosted by the NCI-designated Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.
“As cancer data becomes increasingly important for prevention and control efforts, there is a growing need to improve how we access, interpret and use this information across states in the Midwest,” said Joann Sweasy, PhD, director of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center. “The Midwest Data Partners’ Workshop united cancer centers and state health departments across Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas and Iowa and focused on addressing these shared challenges while strengthening cross-state partnerships to support more coordinated and evidence-based intervention to address cancer prevention and control efforts at the population level.”
Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway, PhD, associate director, community outreach and engagement for the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, said she was excited by the turnout.
“This is an opportunity for people to get inspired and learn new things, but also maybe come up with new projects and collaborations that will benefit the region,” she said.
The large attendance, Dr. Watanabe-Galloway said, was driven by rising interest in cancer data and how it impacts cancer research.
“The Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center has done an excellent job promoting population science, and this is a population science-focused conference.”
Edward Peters, DMD, ScD, professor and chair of the UNMC Department of Epidemiology and co-lead of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program in the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, gave the welcome address, and he immediately noted the importance of the many partners from across Nebraska and the Midwest.
“We have people in the room who work in cancer registries, population science, informatics, environmental health, disparities research and geospatial analysis,” Dr. Peters said. “This combination of expertise is exactly what makes this gathering different from a typical scientific meeting. Our shared focus is straightforward: advancing cancer prevention, control and equity by bringing together regional experts in data, registries, informatics, environmental health, disparities research and geospatial science. Today is about doing that work in a very practical way.”
The conference addressed topics such as methods for effectively using population health data sources; cancer disparities and how to combat them; and using geospatial and mapping techniques in cancer prevention and care.
Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center community advisory board member Paula Hintz, who came from Valentine, Nebraska, to attend, said she was excited to see the conference focusing on data use in cancer research and care. In her education career, she said, professionals look to identify and target students’ areas of need. Looking at the data, she said, “allows you to really route your path more effectively, and more cost effectively, for better results.”