President’s Message

Happy Spring!

Hopefully things are warming up and starting to bloom in your area. I love the longer days. The NAACCR Board and Steering Committee Chairs sprung into action during an in-person meeting the beginning of March in Savannah, GA. As part of the meeting, the Chairs shared their Committees’ accomplishments towards meeting the goals of NAACCR’s Strategic Plan.

• Professional Development: The Member Ambassador Program (MAP) has exciting plans for recruitment of volunteers at the annual conference. The Mentorship Program has started setting up cohort meetings. The Upkeep Task Force is starting to look at updating the Understanding Central Cancer Registries modules; there will be approximately 13 different modules.
• Research and Data Use: Race/Ethnicity work has been a focus. The AI/AN Cancer Surveillance Task Force is working on how race is defined, denominator data, reviewing reports and writing papers. The Fit for Use Workgroup is looking at data items, including Race, to make sure they are reported accurately. Crosscutting initiatives include providing opportunities for training for analysts e.g., the Epi Hour is providing a venue for networking and training.
• Standardization and Registry Development: Discussions have started on defining “partial records” and discussing what has been done in the past; Cancer Registry Operation Standards (CROS) is updating Standards for Completeness, Quality, Analysis, and Management of Data (Standards Volume III); and the ICD-O-3 Work Group provided feedback on the ICD-O-4 beta version.
• Strategic Planning and Alliances is working on an advocacy portfolio for patient advocacy organizations. It shows the value of NAACCR and cancer surveillance. The portfolio will be modifiable so central registries can modify for their state needs.

The Certification Evaluation and Recommendations Task Force presented their recommendations to the Board. The Board has approved some changes. Plans are being developed to implement the changes that include providing webinars and timelines.

The Program Committee has done a phenomenal job putting together an exciting agenda for the NAACCR Annual Conference in Hartford, CT June 3-5, 2025. I hope to see everyone there!