Cancer Detection and Diagnostics Technologies for Global Health
August 22-23, 2011
Natcher Center, NIH campus- Building 45
Bethesda, Maryland
Click here to download the abstract book for the Cancer Detection and Diagnostics Technologies for Global Health meeting.
Cancer is a leading cause of death and disability in poor countries; the majority of deaths from cancer worldwide occur in low-income and middle-income countries. While the need to address this issue is well recognized, this challenging problem is currently not well addressed especially in terms of detection and diagnostics of cancer in global heath settings.
Improved technologies for cancer detection and diagnostics can facilitate earlier detection of cancer when it is less invasive and more treatable. One major current challenge is identification of appropriate cancer biomarkers. In global health settings, there are additional challenges to develop simple, portable low cost detection and diagnostics technologies for resource-poor settings with minimal medical infrastructure.
Recent developments in lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technologies, biosensors, portable ultrasound imaging and hand held scanners enable various detection and diagnostics tests to be carried out outside of laboratory. These technologies can be adapted to bring cancer detection and diagnostics to global health settings.
To better understand clinical needs for cancer treatment in international settings, to advance research that includes the development of new technologies, and to accelerate the application of these new technologies, the National Institutes of Health is organizing a two-day conference on Cancer Detection and Diagnostics Technologies for Global Health. The unique feature of the conference is the focus on bioengineering and low cost cancer diagnostic technologies for treatable cancer in international health settings.
The goals of this conference are to bring together oncologists, clinicians, public health scientists, engineers and researchers from academia, government, nongovernmental organizations, and industry to discuss public health needs and cancer detection and diagnostics from several perspectives. Topics will include: cancer in global health settings, treatable cancers, cancer biomarkers, technologies with potential for cancer detection, and diagnosis, prognosis and cancer treatment in global health settings.
Our hope is that this conference will offer a venue to discuss public health needs, and to describe current research and development efforts in the area of cancer diagnostics and lower cost diagnostics technologies. There will be opportunities to examine the state of the science in cancer diagnostics, learn about commercialization approaches and about promising scientific and technological developments. Finally, the conference is intended to facilitate scientific collaborations and interactions, to foster the development of new research programs for developing much-needed technologies in this important field.
