Multilevel Interventions in Health Care Conference: Welcome by Steven Clauser, PhD

>>>DR. STEVEN CLAUSER: Well, good morning. I would really
like to officially bring this conference to order.
My name is Steve Clauser. I am co-chair of the conference
and on behalf of the National Cancer Institute,
I really want to welcome you to our Multi-Interventions
in Health Care: Building the Foundation for Future
Research conference. I think as you will see throughout
the meeting, there are many people that have made
significant contributions in the development of this
conference, but to start it out I really would like to
acknowledge the contributions of two senior leaders in
our Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences
here at NCI, both in terms of their interest in the subject
matter, and also their financial support.
Without their help, this conference simply would not
have happened. And so I would like to acknowledge
Dr. Rachel Ballard-Barbash who is Associate Director of
Applied Research Program, as well as Bill Klein,
who is Associate Director of the Behavioral Research Program.
Thank you very much for your
continued support of this effort.
>>>[APPLAUSE]
I think as you will soon appreciate,
the field of multilevel intervention research is a
relatively new area of science for NCI and so this conference
is really designed to get engagement from our
stakeholders, both the extramural research community
and practioners, to really help us move this science forward.
And the imperative of getting external input from our
stakeholders is something that is a real high priority to our
director, Dr. Harold Varmus, and it is something that we are
taking very seriously both in this initiative and in
this conference. So what we have done, as you can see
on the slides, we have identified three specific
objectives to help structure your input throughout the two
day meeting. First, to identify research needed to
strengthen the foundation for multilevel intervention
research in healthcare. Second, to understand the current
state of science of multilevel interventions across the cancer
continuum. And third, to clarify issues in the conceptualization
of multilevel effects across scientific disciplines.
And I think as you will see from the presentations that
follow, these objectives are really reflect some of the
broad dimensions of multilevel intervention research,
conceptual challenges, research design and methods and the
breadth of research that is inherent in this multi-method,
multi-disciplinary area of science.
So what we have done to accomplish these objectives is
really structure this conference,
okay, to maximize discussion, debate and active engagement
among all of us throughout the next two days.
First, we have structured some presentations that are very
focused on particular topics related to MLI research and
each presenter will identify some key questions that they
believe are essential to move this science forward.
They will be followed by a discussant who not only will
remark on the questions raised by the presenters,
but possibly raise some questions themselves.
And then we move into what I think is the most important
part of this meeting over the next two days,
and that is where we have audience discussions in small
groups where you will actively engage,
both in thinking and responding to the questions raised by
presenters and discussants, but also have the opportunity to
raise your own issues and your own questions based on your own
experience, based on your discipline and your particular
area of research. And we are very hopeful that with that
we'll be able to get the kind of active engagement that will
allow us all to participate in answering some of the
important questions in this field. Then we will move
to a question and answer session where we have a moderator
where one of their key objectives is to connect with
you and the presenters so they will be able to, so you
will be able to address those questions which we hope will
reflect some of the discussion that you've had at your tables.
And finally I just want to mention that we do have
poster presentations. We have received several abstracts for
this and the ones that were awarded will be issued at the
end of tomorrow in connection with the reception.
And while we'll talk more about that in the course of the
meeting, please put that on your agenda to make sure you
attend and have a chance to interact with your colleagues
who are actually doing related research in this field.
So this is an interactive session.
There will be no knowledge transfer solely in terms of
people from this stage imparting knowledge to you.
This is about knowledge sharing and active learning and we
really hope you're ready to engage in this.
So what do we want from you?
We want your active involvement, okay?
We want you to take off your coats,
roll up your sleeves, but sit on the edge of your chairs and
get ready to work. Because I think that and I think also
be prepared to maybe get out of your comfort zone a little bit
because we are going to ask people to rotate tables to try
to maximize the diverse input on these important questions
that will be raised today. We are really excited to see the
diverse of experience and expertise that is represented
in this room. And I think honestly, if you are really
willing to actively participate, ask questions, raise issues,
challenge assumptions, then I think we have a really good
chance of being successful in this meeting achieving these
objectives to better position ourselves to move this
field forward. Both in terms of the work we do here at NCI,
but also in terms of your own interests in this area of
research, whether or not you are doing it in cancer.
So one final point I want to make before we start is that we
have some authorization forms, some of which you may have
signed at the registration desk, but others that are in
your packet, that we really want you to sign and return to us.
That, first of all, acknowledge that we are recording this
session today, but also to allow us to acknowledge your
contribution to this particular meeting by enabling us to
acknowledge your work in a supplement that will be
published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute,
which is a specific product of this meeting.