Notice Number: NOT-CA-24-064
Deadline: October 5, 2024
Purpose
The purpose of this notice of special interest (NOSI) is to inform potential applicants of the interest of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in supporting implementation research related to cancer prevention and control in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Background
Cancer is a leading cause of premature death worldwide. In 2018, an estimated 18.1 million new cancer cases were diagnosed and there were 9.6 million deaths from cancer. Predictions suggest that 30 million people will die from cancer each year by 2030, of whom 75% will be in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This increase may be attributed to the aging of societies, the ‘epidemiologic transition’ in many LMICs, the high prevalence of behaviors that increase the risk of developing cancer, as well as the socioeconomic inequalities that result in delayed diagnosis or care provision and poor-quality care in many LMIC settings.
Research Objectives
NCI encourages applications that pursue innovative approaches to identifying, understanding, and developing strategies for overcoming barriers to the adoption, adaptation, integration, scale-up, and sustainability of evidence-based interventions, tools, policies, and guidelines in low-resource settings. The research projects on which these applications will be based should be focused on dissemination and implementation research for the primary and secondary prevention of cancer in LMICs and/or in populations facing conditions of vulnerability in HICs. The projects described in grant applications must be built on evidence-based interventions (including cost-effectiveness) for the respective population groups under defined contextual circumstances. For promising interventions, a limited validation period can be envisaged. However, the core of the research activities should focus on their implementation in real-life settings.
NCI is interested in proposed studies to adapt and scale-up the implementation of these interventions in accessible, affordable, and equitable ways in order to improve the prevention and early diagnosis of cancer in real-life settings. Interventions should meet conditions and requirements of the local health and social system context and address any other contextual factors identified as possible barriers.
Research topics in the context of LMICs and other low-resource environments include, but are not limited, to the following:
- Strategies to implement health promotion, prevention, screening, early detection, and diagnostic interventions, as well as effective treatments, clinical procedures, and/or guidelines, into existing care systems.
- Implementation of multiple evidence-based practices within community or clinical settings to meet the needs of cancer patients.
- Local adaptation of evidence-based practices in the context of implementation.
- Longitudinal and follow-up studies on the factors that contribute to the sustainability of evidence-based interventions in public health and clinical practice.
- Testing the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of dissemination or implementation strategies to reduce health disparities and improve quality of care among cancer patients.
- Reducing or stopping (“de-implementing”) the use of clinical and community practices that are ineffective, unproven, low-value, and/or harmful.
- Relationship of context and local capacity of clinical and community settings to adoption, implementation, and sustainability of evidence-based practices.
- Prospective or retrospective studies of the adoption, implementation, and sustainability of health policies and their interaction with programs and contextual factors.
- Influences on the creation, packaging, transmission, and reception of evidence for effective health interventions.
- Strategies to impact organizational structure, climate, culture, and processes to enable dissemination and implementation of clinical/public health information and effective clinical/public health interventions.
- Studies that focus on the testing of theories, models, and frameworks for dissemination and/or implementation processes.
- Studies of policies and other contextual factors that influence the success of dissemination and/or implementation efforts.
For more information, please see the opportunity website.