UF Health Cancer Institute hosts Florida Cancer Control and Research Advisory Council meeting
The UF Health Cancer Institute hosted the spring 2026 meeting of the Florida Cancer Control and Research Advisory Council (CCRAB) on April 16 in Gainesville, highlighting how the Cancer Institute is engaging with stakeholders to reduce the cancer burden as the state implements a new cancer plan.
Ramzi Salloum, Ph.D., the institute’s associate director for community outreach and engagement, serves as vice chair of council. Established by the Florida Legislature, the council guides cancer control and research across the state. Earlier this year, it released a new version of the Florida Cancer Control and Research Plan to shape implementation efforts over the next five years.
Strong collaboration with regional cancer control collaboratives is key to reducing the cancer burden, Salloum said. Hosting the meeting in Gainesville for the first time marks a step toward greater engagement. It allowed Lindsey Redding, coordinator of the North Central Florida Cancer Control Collaborative, to lead a discussion about her collaborative’s efforts at the spring meeting.
“Holding the meeting in different regions of the state allows the regional collaboratives, which are key to implementing the cancer plan, to participate in person when it’s in their region,” Salloum said. “Regional collaboratives are experts on identifying and addressing the needs of local communities and their objective is to implement the statewide plan. Our goal is to better support the collaboratives as we work toward our shared goal.”
The council is increasingly integrated with Offices of Community Outreach and Engagement at Florida’s four National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers, with Erin Kobetz, Ph.D., from Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center serving as CCRAB chair. Leaders from COE offices at the four centers, which comprise the Florida Academic Cancer Center Alliance (FACCA), will discuss implementation of the cancer plan next week at the 2026 Annual FACCA Retreat in Tampa.
Every year, more than 140,000 Floridians are newly diagnosed with cancer. The 26-county region the UF Health Cancer Institute serves in North Central Florida has higher rates of late-stage cancer diagnosis than the rest of the state. The region also has a large population of rural residents, who face a greater burden of new cancer cases and late-stage disease at diagnosis.
The Cancer Institute’s efforts are closely aligned with the Florida Cancer Control and Research Plan. Through its Mobile Cancer Screening Connector, the team aims to reduce barriers to care and prioritize early detection, prevention and connections to research studies. The institute also focuses on priority cancers — breast, brain, colorectal, lung and cancers with evidence-based screening methods — that meet the greatest needs and reduce mortality.
“Much of the cancer burden in the state of Florida is concentrated in our catchment area in North Central Florida,” Salloum said. “We play a key role in responding to the cancer plan in the state of Florida, especially given the disproportionate burden in our region.”
“We play a key role in responding to the cancer plan in the state of Florida, especially given the disproportionate burden in our region.” — Ramzi Salloum, Ph.D.
The institute has a long history of leadership on CCRAB. Christopher Cogle, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the UF Division of Hematology and Oncology, currently serves as the Senate President’s appointee and is its former chair. Thomas George, M.D., FACP, FASCO, the institute’s interim director, previously served a 10-year term as the gubernatorial-appointee and chair.
