Major Refresh and Reinvention for CRP

In just two days the renewed vision of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Cancer Research Program (CRP) will be revealed at the ACS Cancer Conference in Atlanta. While the CRP has been conducting research in collaboration with the ACS Cancer Programs for many years and is proud to have contributed to many advances, including the Operative Standards, it has just undertaken a major refresh and reinvention. Judy Boughey, MD, FACS, the CRP Interim Chair, will be in Atlanta to share the updated CRP vision and introduce two reformulated committees, the Standards Investigation and Validation Committee and the Cancer Data Modeling Committee. Dr. Boughey’s CRP colleagues will share descriptions of new survivorship research and the first prototype of a survival calculator.

While survivorship is not new to the ACS cancer accreditation programs, there are still many gaps in our knowledge about how we can best address the needs of cancer survivors. To advance this field and better meet the unfulfilled needs of cancer survivors, the Standards Investigation and Validation Committee has drafted a survey to characterize survivorship services nationally, and identify potential growth areas that could support high quality of life for cancer survivors. Look for survey details soon and please take a moment to share information about your survivorship services.

The Cancer Data Modeling Committee will be focusing on developing new clinical tools, such as a survival calculator, and annual reports that identify trends in cancer care and outcomes across multiple disease sites.  This committee will bring a team of modeling experts together to consider new analytic approaches to explore and investigate the incorporation of big data and diverse types of data (i.e., social determinants of health, biologic markers, and more) to drive the development of new clinical tools.

If you are interested in participating in the Standards Investigation and Validation Committee or the Cancer Data Modeling Committee, see the information below regarding the open application process.