CANCER

About the NACDD Cancer Council

cancer council logoThe NACDD Cancer Council connects all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded cancer program staff from State Health Departments, tribal territories, commonwealths, and academic institutions. Cancer staff come together to share their knowledge and experiences, and to develop professional growth opportunities. Cancer staff identify emerging issues, brainstorm, and problem-solve around current issues, and share best practices for cancer prevention and control. If your program receives cancer-related CDC funding, you are already a member of the NACDD Cancer Council. Cancer Council opportunities, initiatives, and workgroups are open to all cancer staff. To ensure you are receiving information about these opportunities, send an email to be added to the mailing list.

View the NACDD Cancer Council Fact Sheet for more information.

Cancer Council stock photo

Ask Us/Tell Us

The NACDD Cancer Council is eager to hear from you! Do you have a question or a topic you’d like to see presented? Please ask us or tell us by emailing us.

Cancer Council Executive Committee

Comprehensive Cancer Control National Partners Liaison
Iowa

Katie Jones

Chair
Iowa

Mary Ellen Conn_bw

Mary Ellen Conn

Past Chair
West Virginia

Annie Thibault

Annie Thibault

Chair Elect
South Carolina

Heather LeBlanc-bw

Heather LeBlanc

Secretary
New York

Randy Scwhartz_bw

Randy Schwartz

NACDD Sr. Public Health Consultant for Cancer Control

Paula Clayton_bw

Paula Clayton

NACDD Public Health Consultant

Lisa Mei

Lisa Mei

Member-At-Large
Michigan

Within the Cancer Council is a Leadership Team made up of an Executive Committee, Steering Committee and representation from our national partners – CDC and the National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Executive Committee positions are elected each year by the Cancer Council membership. The Steering Committee consists of members appointed as liaisons to groups within and outside of NACDD whose work complements the Cancer Council. The Steering Committee also includes several workgroups focused on a variety of topics. National partners provide guidance, foster leadership, and enable the Leadership Team to set and achieve goals that benefit cancer-related public health efforts nationwide.

The Leadership Team meets monthly to promote communication and action between CDC and grantees, making it easier for grantees to fulfill grant requirements and achieve success.

NACDD Steering Committee

Allison Antoine

Comprehensive Cancer Control National Partners Liaison
Wisconsin

Melissa Buffalo (Meskwaki & Dakota)

Tribal Liaison American Indian Cancer Foundation

Shani Fields

Health Equity Council Liaison
New York

X-ner Luther

PIJ/Territory Representative
Federal States of Micronesia (FSM)

Long Alam

Member Representative Guam

Lyna Frederick

PIJ/Territory Representative
Virgin Islands

NACDD Workgroup Leaders

Gail Sullivan

Mentoring Program Lead
New Hampshire

Jane McElroy, Cancer Screening Workgroup Co-Lead, Missouri

Jane McElroy

Cancer Screening Workgroup Co-Lead Missouri

Vacant

Cancer Screening Workgroup Co-Lead

Gina O’Sullivan

Evaluation & Epidemiology Workgroup Co-Lead
New York

Vacant

Evaluation & Epidemiology Workgroup Co-Lead

Kim Kelly

Communications Workgroup Co-Lead
New York

Vacant

Survivorship Workgroup Co-Lead

Vacant

Survivorship Workgroup Co-Lead

Cara McCarthy

Cara McCarthy

Policy Workgroup
Co-Lead
Louisiana

Vacant

Policy Workgroup
Co-Lead

National Partners Advisors

CDC, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control

  • Office of the Director
  • National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP)
  • National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program (NCCCP)
  • Colorectal Cancer Control Program (CRCCP)
  • National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR)

NCI, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences

  • Implementation Sciences (IS) Team

All NACDD Cancer Council Members are welcome to join any existing workgroups at any time. If you are interested in joining a workgroup or have a suggestion for a new workgroup, contact us at cancercouncil@chronicdisease.org.

 

Cancer Screening Workgroup

The workgroup brings together Cancer Council members representing breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening program grantees. The intent is to share current topics pertinent to health systems change, evidence-based interventions to increase screening uptake, knowledge of available resources, and dissemination of best practices. The workgroup meets quarterly on the second Tuesday of January, April, July, and October. Membership is open to all CDC-funded screening program grantees; however, the member does not need to have prior program experience to participate.

 

Evaluation and Epidemiology Workgroup

The workgroup intends to support Cancer Council members’ and national partners’ work by providing a platform to share knowledge and experience related to evaluation and epidemiology, ensuring members are informed of opportunities to strengthen their skills, knowledge, and relationships. We strive to provide members an opportunity to network with their peers and inform participants about upcoming evaluation- and epidemiology-related learning opportunities sponsored by the Council. The workgroup meets quarterly and is open to anyone interested in cancer program evaluation or epidemiology.

 

Communications Workgroup

The intent of this workgroup is to support the work of Cancer Council members by ensuring members are informed of opportunities to strengthen their skills, knowledge, and relationships. This workgroup is a conduit between our national partners and members, and it helps to ensure the dissemination of important information and tools. This workgroup is responsible for maintaining communication channels such as the Cancer Council website and the Cancer Council Newsletter. The workgroup strives to keep members up-to-date on Council and workgroup activities, promote engagement among Cancer Council membership, and inform about upcoming learning opportunities sponsored by the Council. The workgroup meets monthly or bi-monthly depending on project needs. Workgroup members do not need to have a communications background to participate.

 

Survivorship Workgroup

The Survivorship Workgroup (formerly called Palliative Care and Survivorship Workgroup) brings together Cancer Council members to support work related to palliative care and survivorship. The intent of this workgroup is to provide a platform to share knowledge, barriers, successes, best practices, and experience related to advancing palliative and survivorship care. This workgroup meets quarterly and is open to anyone interested in survivorship and palliative care.

 

Policy Workgroup

The Policy Workgroup is looking for a new lead or co-lead. This workgroup is open to policy coordinators and program directors or staff working on policy, systems, and environmental change activities across any cancer program. The workgroup discusses policies that impact cancer screening and cancer control at the state and federal level, the structure of programs’ policy work, how policy is getting integrated into program work, and how programs are evaluating these efforts.

As a member of the NACDD Cancer Council, you have at your fingertips a network of more than 400 cancer prevention and control professionals! Our experienced Program Directors and Program Managers can be our greatest resource to help work through challenges we face managing a CDC-funded cancer program.

The Mentoring Program seeks to connect cancer staff who want to strengthen their professional skills and knowledge with an experienced peer who is a volunteer mentor. The mentor and mentee can then meet via email, phone, Zoom, etc., to have a single conversation, or decide to have an ongoing peer-to-peer relationship. Each peer connection is unique!

MENTORS: Apply here.
MENTEES: Apply here.

If you have more questions about the Mentoring Program, please email us.

Each quarter, NACDD hosts a full Cancer Council meeting (virtual) that includes new and relevant information for all cancer staff, updates on projects, and presentations to enrich professional knowledge. Attending these calls is a great first step to becoming more familiar with the Cancer Council and its work.

NACDD has a variety of workgroups available and welcomes anyone who wishes to share or expand their expertise and knowledge. In addition to being part of a workgroup, members can develop their leadership skills by volunteering as a chair or co-chair of a workgroup. Members are also encouraged to create their own topic specific workgroup if their interest is not represented in what is currently available.

Any member of the Cancer Council may also run for an elected position on the Executive Committee. These positions include Chair, Chair-Elect, Past Chair, Secretary, and Member-at-Large. Members may also serve on the Leadership Team, responsible for ongoing strategic planning and decision-making.

 

Recorded Webinars

Coming soon!

National Resources

National Cancer Institute GIS Portal for Cancer Research – NCI GIS (Geographic Information Science) Portal is a web-based station for interactive mapping and visualization of cancer related geo-spatial data.  The portal includes several geospatial tools that feature interactive mapping and visualization of cancer related geo-spatial data, such as the NCI Cancer Atlas, Cancer Map Stories, Animated Historical Cancer Atlas, and the Tobacco Policy Viewer.

The Community Guide – The Guide to Community Preventive Services (The Community Guide) is a collection of evidence-based findings of the Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF). It is a resource to help you select interventions to improve health and prevent disease in your state, community, community organization, business, healthcare organization, or school.

Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalitions Advancing Health Equity (Zoom Series) – The Comprehensive Cancer Control National Partnership (CCCNP) has launched an effort designed to assist CCC coalitions and programs in addressing health inequities in cancer. The initiative focuses on advancing health equity through CCC plan update processes and CCC plan implementation and viewing CCC operations through a social justice and equity lens. As part of this effort, the CCCNP has gathered a set of resources, specifically for CCC coalitions, to help you learn about the issues and to take action.

Evidence-based Cancer Control Programs – A searchable database of evidence-based cancer control programs designed to provide program planners and public health practitioners easy and immediate access to program materials.

U.S. Cancer Statistics Data Visualizations Tool – This tool provides incidence and death counts, rates, and trend data; survival and prevalence estimates; and state-, county-, and congressional district data in a user-driven format.

National Breast Cancer Roundtable – A national coalition of member organizations with a collective aim to accelerate progress across the breast cancer continuum through strategic partnerships to eliminate disparities and reduce mortality. The Roundtable works to ensure all women have access to quality screening and treatment, including Black women and women in other historically excluded communities, and to address the social and emotional needs of patients and their families.

National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (NCCRT) – NCCRT resources include practice implementation guides, communications tools, policy briefs, among others. Resources are developed for professionals in primary care, specialty care, public health, health plans, employers, and community settings, among others.

National Lung Cancer Roundtable – The National Lung Cancer Roundtable (NLCRT) is a national coalition of public, private, and voluntary organizations, and invited individuals, dedicated to reducing the incidence of and mortality from lung cancer in the United States, through coordinated leadership, strategic planning, and advocacy. 

National HPV Roundtable – The National HPV Vaccination Roundtable is a coalition of approximately 70 organizations working at the intersection of immunization and cancer prevention. The collective mission of these organizations is to raise HPV vaccination rates and prevent HPV cancers in the United States.

National Navigation Roundtable – The NNRT serves as a catalyst to initiate work on key issues around patient navigation, as well as to disseminate best practices and to overall enhance the field of navigation. Together, members work to share information, identify needs and opportunities, while addressing gaps relating to navigation.

National Roundtable on Cervical Cancer – The National Roundtable on Cervical Cancer is a national coalition of member organizations with a primary goal to eliminate cervical cancer in our lifetime and engage key organizations to institute policy and systems changes that increase cervical cancer screening.

Conversations About CancerNACDD and CDC have developed engaging, interactive conversation simulations with computer-animated virtual humans to help both providers and patients navigate difficult conversations about cancer screening, treatment, and survivorship.

National Networks

The CDC funds eight national tobacco-related cancer disparity networks that work to spread best practices across tobacco and cancer programs and national organizations. Each of these networks can serve as subject matter experts and provide tools and resources to your cancer programs. We invite you to explore each one and get in touch!

National NetworkPopulation of FocusAwardee Organization
ASPIRE NetworkAsian American/Native Hawaiian/Pacific IslanderAsian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy, & Leadership (APPEAL)
Geographic Health Equity Alliance (GHEA)Geographically definedCommunity Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA)
National African American Tobacco Prevention NetworkAfrican AmericansNational African American Tobacco Prevention Network (NAATPN), inc.
National Behavioral Health Network for Tobacco and Cancer Control (NBHN)Mental or substance use disordersNational Council for Behavioral Health
National LGBT Tobacco-Related Cancer NetworkLesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)National LGBT Cancer Network
National Native Network (Keep It Sacred)American Indian and Alaska NativeInter-Tribal Council of Michigan, Inc.
Nuestras Voces (Our Voices) NetworkHispanic/LatinoNational Alliance for Hispanic Health
SelfMade Health NetworkLow Socioeconomic StatusPatient Advocate Foundation

Careers at NACDD

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