By Eliza Dysart
UF Health Cancer Institute researchers are helping advance practical strategies to prevent cancer, improve early detection and strengthen survivorship care, with new work featured at the American Society of Preventive Oncology 50th Annual Meeting this month in Denver.
The UF Health Cancer Institute played a prominent role at the meeting, held April 12-14. Faculty members presented research, led sessions and helped organize the conference, which coincides with National Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Month.
“Cancer prevention and control has reached a point where the central challenge is no longer only discovery,” said Dejana Braithwaite, Ph.D., associate director for population sciences at the UF Health Cancer Institute. “It’s implementation: how to ensure that what we already know works reaches people in ways that are practical, sustainable and effective.”
Braithwaite, division chief of population health sciences and a professor of surgery, radiology and epidemiology in the UF Colleges of Medicine and Public Health and Health Professions, served as co-chair of the conference program. Researchers already understand many of the key factors that reduce cancer risk and improve early detection, Braithwaite said. The next step is ensuring those strategies reach communities effectively.
“We already know a great deal about what reduces cancer risk and what improves early detection in several well-established areas,” Braithwaite said. “At the same time, important questions remain in emerging areas such as metabolism, obesity and cancer prevention. The next task is both to deepen the science and to deliver that knowledge with greater reach, consistency and sustainability.”
As many as 40% of cancers in the United States are potentially preventable through changes such as smoking cessation, improved diet and increased access to screenings, according to the American Cancer Society
The annual meeting brought together researchers, clinicians, policymakers and patient advocates to collaborate on advancing cancer prevention and control.
“It’s a multidisciplinary society that helps guide the direction of the field,” Braithwaite said.
UF researchers contributed in multiple areas of the conference, including global cancer disparities, survivorship and emerging treatments. Braithwaite also co-led a symposium on the potential role of popular weight loss drugs in cancer prevention and outcomes. In addition, Ramzi Salloum, Ph.D., associate director for community outreach and engagement at the UF Health Cancer Institute, spoke on a session on global cancer disparities.
The institute’s work emphasizes using artificial intelligence and digital health tools to improve screening, survivorship and overall cancer outcomes.
“Progress in cancer prevention will be judged by whether it changes care and improves outcomes at scale,” Braithwaite said. “AI and digital health matter when they help make evidence-based prevention and early detection more timely, more practical and more reachable in real-world settings.”
In addition to faculty leadership, the Cancer Institute sponsored a workshop for new investigators, helping foster the next generation of cancer prevention scientists.
For UF Health Cancer Institute member Erin Mobley, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at the UF Health College of Medicine – Jacksonville, the conference also highlighted the importance of collaboration and patient-centered perspectives.
Mobley chaired a session focused on adolescent and young adult cancer survivorship, bringing together researchers and a patient advocate to share personal and scientific insights.
“I think it’s important to have the patient voice and experience,” Mobley said. “At a lot of conferences you don’t really get that.”
She said the conference created opportunities for researchers from different disciplines to connect and develop new approaches to cancer prevention and care.
“Bringing people together who have a similar interest but different perspectives is something that’s really helpful,” Mobley said.
Participation in the conference allowed UF researchers and staff to build professional networks and bring new ideas back to their work in Florida.
“The networking opportunities and exposure to people we otherwise wouldn’t meet are a real benefit,” Mobley said.
As Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Month draws attention to the importance of proactive health measures, researchers emphasized that awareness should extend beyond April.
“It’s always important to think about cancer prevention and control, not just during the month of April, but all year,” Mobley said.
Both researchers said the future of cancer prevention will depend on closing the gap between what is known and what is implemented in real-world settings.
“What matters now is whether prevention science changes the trajectory of cancer in populations, not only in publications,” Braithwaite said. “That means focusing on delivery, uptake, clinical utility and measurable impact in the real world.”
