Advancing Cancer Research Together: Building on Progress, Shaping What’s Next
, by Satish Gopal, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Center for Global Health
Each year, World Cancer Research Day reminds us that progress against cancer requires collective effort. This year’s theme, “Advancing Cancer Research Together,” is especially meaningful as the National Cancer Institute's Center for Global Health (CGH) marks its 15th anniversary. Since our establishment in 2011, collaboration has been central to our work, bringing together researchers, governments, institutions, and partners in the U.S. and around the world to advance cancer research. This work is grounded in a core CGH principle expressed in the National Cancer Act itself, that no single country can address the global cancer burden alone. Meaningful advances depend on all of us working across borders and bringing together our diverse perspectives. For CGH, collaboration is woven throughout our efforts to advance cancer research, strengthen research capacity, and ensure that scientific knowledge is translated to benefit people in the US and around the world.
After I joined CGH in 2020, we developed and launched the Center’s first strategic plan, spanning the years 2021-2025. This has provided a very valuable frame for all our recent work, and we’ve spent the last year evaluating our progress against what we had envisioned. Over the past five years, CGH has substantially expanded its strategic investments in global cancer research, supported career development for numerous global cancer researchers, broadened the reach of evidence-based cancer control, and strengthened partnerships around the world.
Our evaluation also revealed opportunities for continued evolution at CGH and highlighted the importance of continuing to advance research across populations and settings that generates knowledge which benefits Americans as well as people around the world. Our updated 2026-2030 CGH Strategic Plan builds on the strong foundation established over the past 5 years while focusing on new opportunities with potential for even broader impact.
Key themes guiding our work in this next period will include:
- Generating broadly applicable research by working across populations and settings to optimally inform cancer control domestically and globally.
- Pursuing new scientific opportunities such as global clinical trials and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, in addition to maintaining catalytic investments in areas like implementation science.
- Building lasting research capacity by supporting early-career researchers toward independence while strengthening institutions.
- Turning knowledge into action by promoting multidirectional exchange and connections between the research and implementation communities.
- Leveraging all of NCI by continuing to bring NCI and NIH expertise and resources to bear on global scientific opportunities and collaborations as appropriate.
- Working toward sustained measurable impact by continuously demonstrating, monitoring, and evaluating the value and impact of global cancer research.
These priorities reflect what we have learned and where we hope to go. They also represent the spirit of this year’s World Cancer Research Day. “Advancing Cancer Research Together,” reminds us that addressing cancer globally requires our sustained commitment and collective action. CGH and NCI remain committed to working with partners around the world to advance research and improve outcomes for all, because everyone should have opportunities to contribute to and benefit from cancer research no matter where they live.