Grant: Foundation Grant

<html> <body> <p>Cancers are a rapidly growing public health threat and <strong>over 5% of cancers</strong> worldwide are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Great strides have been made in the development of prevention opportunities, including efficacious vaccines and improved techniques for screening with HPV-DNA for cervical cancer, the most common HPV related cancer. But, these prevention tools have had <strong>limited benefit</strong> to date as policy makers remain <strong>uncertain <em>when, where and how</em></strong> to <strong>deploy</strong> vaccine and screening programs at a population level optimally. This uncertainty leads to <strong>delayed or suboptimal</strong> program implementation, while the unnecessary <strong>deaths</strong> every year of &gt;250K women from cervical cancer (an <strong>entirely preventable cancer</strong>)<strong>&nbsp;</strong>continue unabated. WHO has called this &lsquo;<strong><em>one of the gravest threats</em></strong>&rsquo; to women.<br> <br> I plan to lead an <strong>ambitious</strong> program of research to <strong>eradicate HPV related cancers</strong> (HRC) in the next few decades by creating <em>policy relevant evidence</em> through an integrated suite of studies in high- and low-/middle-income countries to guide implementation of prevention efforts for HPV related cancers. We will <strong>advance care</strong> by advising policy makers on <strong>when, where and how</strong> to implement prevention efforts.&nbsp;<br> <br> This research program is aligned under two themes: <strong>primary</strong> and <strong>secondary</strong> prevention of HRC.<br> <br>In <strong>primary prevention</strong>, we plan to determine the population level impact of HPV vaccine programs on cancer and oral HPV infections using population level registries in BC; adverse events of HPV vaccine through a large Canadian research network. We plan to lead pragmatic trials to determine the effectiveness of 2v3 doses of the HPV vaccine in Canada; the efficacy of alternate dosing of the HPV vaccine in Africa; impact of nurse education on vaccine uptake in Canada; impact of an integrated MCH/HPV program on uptake in Africa.<br> <br> In <strong>secondary prevention</strong>, we plan to leverage exceptional trial cohorts and infrastructure with modeling to define the optimal cervical cancer screening program for jurisdictions; determine the sensitivity and specificity and potential impact of alternate molecular screening tools. Through clinical trials we plan to determine the impact of integrating novel web based platforms on screening uptake in Canada; and determine the impact of an integrated reproductive health program on screening uptake in Africa.<br> <br> Our <strong>expert</strong>s come from a wide cross-section of disciplines, appropriate to steward this ambitious research program. They are scholars in methodology, epidemiology, virology, women&rsquo;s health, global health, cancer, vaccinology, screening, health economics and modeling with extensive research and teaching skills.<br> <br> We propose an ambitious training program to <strong>inspire</strong> the <strong>next generation of scientists</strong> to dedicate their careers to <strong>tackling priority health issues of our time</strong>. We plan to create networked sites in BC, Canada, at leading health agencies (ie. CDC Atlanta, WHO) and in Africa to create a critical mass of passionate trainees. Trainees will work with investigators on projects and develop skills across the research spectrum (ie. study conception, design, grant and manuscript preparation, statistical analysis, study operations, ethics and privacy, KT and policy). They will also develop mastery in research design (ie. pragmatic randomized trials, survey design, vaccine effectiveness studies, population based observational studies, mathematical and cost effectiveness studies, &nbsp;intervention evaluation) through their specific project and mentor.</p> </body> </html>