Winny Roshala, BA, CTR
NAACCR President
[email protected]
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and that you can look back upon 2022 as a year filled with new challenges, but also many unexpected opportunities. As we all prepared our data files for the annual Calls for Data, the challenges from the impact of the pandemic came into play and establishing fair expected case counts completeness percentage for 2020 cases was no easy feat. Standard setting agencies worked to come up with fair and reasonable estimates for these unprecedented circumstances. We know it will take years to fully determine the impact of the pandemic on cancer surveillance efforts. We continue to forge ahead, despite the challenges. Early indications of 2021 data reflects a slow increase of cancer cases. Again, it may take several years to fully assess the impact of the pandemic on cancer surveillance including incidence and stage at diagnosis, impacting outcomes. Only time will tell.
The NAACCR Board and Steering Committee Chairs, in collaboration with the NAACCR staff have been working diligently to develop a Strategic Initiative Priorities roadmap for NAACCR. You will hear more about this in the next edition of the NAACCR Narrative.
I’m so excited that the 2023 NAACCR Annual Conference will be held in-person again in historic and vibrant New Orleans, LA! The NAACCR Program Committee has been working hard to provide a diverse and dynamic program agenda, to inspire attendees and promote networking and collaboration in familiar as well as new, innovative environments! Birds of a Feather will also be making a return flight to New Orleans, LA (aka NOLA)! Look for more details regarding NAACCR in NOLA!
I also want to take a moment to thank the members of the NAACCR Nominating Committee, consisting of Devbani Raha, (Nova Scotia) Chair, April Austin (NY) and Heather Stabinsky (NJ). The committee did a tremendous job putting together a full slate of candidates for the office of Treasurer, 3 Representative- at-Large positions and 3 Nominating Committee member positions. Kudos to them all for a job very well done!
I also want to encourage you all to consider nominating a colleague for the Calum Muir Award or the Constance Percy Award. There are so many colleagues who have served as leaders and mentors in the cancer surveillance community. Let’s honor those who are so deserving of this recognition!
Wishing you all a bright New Year, filled with good health and many new exciting opportunities and adventures!
Please contact me should you have any questions, comments or suggestions at [email protected]
