Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cancer in Canada. Despite this, screening participation remains low. In addition, it is becoming increasingly difficult in our fiscally restrained environment to provide safe, high-quality, and affordable healthcare. Ontario's provincial screening program, ColonCancerCheck (CCC), recommends that those aged 50-74 at average risk for CRC be screened with an at-home stool test. This test is less invasive and less costly than other tests like colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy, which involve the use of a thin tube to view parts of the colon. For the proposed research, my objectives are to identify interventions or strategies that will improve participation in the provincial screening program. I will work with a team of individuals with diverse expertise in epidemiology, population-health, health services research and economic evaluation in order to identify effective strategies to increase participation in CRC screening given that current screening rates remain below the national target of 60% in Ontario and many other Canadian provinces. In collaboration with my team members, I will disseminate my findings at the local, national and international level in order to maximize CRC screening policy and service delivery.