1. Support the research needed to develop evidence-based practice guidelines in both exercise oncology and oncology nutrition during cancer treatment
    
2. Facilitate communication between the exercise oncology and oncology nutrition communities to achieve the joint goal of improving cancer treatment outcomes​​​​​
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3. Encourage communication between researchers and clinicians working with people receiving cancer treatment​​​​​​​​​

This webinar will focus on the growing interest in integrating food and nutrition into health care, discussing the design of “food is medicine” interventions. It will discuss the preliminary findings and lessons learned from a medically tailored meals plus nutrition counseling intervention in improving the outcomes for vulnerable patients with lung cancer, along with opportunities for integrating food and nutrition into oncology care.

Fang Fang Zhang, MD, PhD and Colleen Spees, PhD, MEd, RDN, LD, FAND, FAHA

Dr. Zhang is a nutritional epidemiologist and the Neely Family Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University. Her research centers on characterizing dietary intake patterns, trends, and disparities in the population, investigating the role of nutrition in cancer prevention and control, and translating evidence into programs, practices, and policies.

Dr. Spees is a Professor in Medical Dietetics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine with advanced training in exercise science, health promotion, and nutritional genomics. Her primary focus of research involves developing, implementing, and testing biobehavioral lifestyle interventions aimed at providing optimal nutrition for vulnerable cancer populations. In this capacity, she seeks to improve access to culturally appropriate, health-promoting, and functional foods by impacting food availability, food access, food quality, and food use.

This webinar will present LEANer (Lifestyle, Exercise And Nutrition) findings to evaluate if an exercise and nutrition program improves chemotherapy and endocrine therapy completion rates. Gaps in the literature will also be discussed.
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Melinda Irwin, PhD, MPH

Dr. Irwin is the ​​​​​Associate Dean of Research and Susan Dwight Bliss Professor of Epidemiology (Chronic Diseases); Deputy Director (Public Health), Yale Center for Clinical Investigation; Deputy Director, Yale Cancer Center.

​​​​​​She is also a Principal Investigator of ENICTO's Trial of Exercise and Lifestyle in Women with Ovarian Cancer Study.

In this webinar, the speakers will describe the design considerations and data analysis approach used in the FOcus on Reducing Dose-limiting Toxicities in Colon Cancer with Resistance Exercise (FORCE) trial, including assessment of adherence to the exercise intervention and confounding by treatment-related side effects.

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Bette Caan, DrPH

Dr. Bette Caan is a senior research scientist and a nutritional epidemiologist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. Dr. Caan directs a research program in the examination of modifiable lifestyle risk factors for the prevention and progression of cancer, with a focus on body composition and energy balance risk factors. Dr. Caan is currently the Principal Investigator of several federally funded research projects including two large observational studies examining effects of body composition on breast and colorectal cancer outcomes.

She is also a Principal Investigator of ENICTO's Adaptive randomization of aerobic exercise during chemotherapy in colon cancer.

Alexandra Binder, ScD

Dr. Alexandra Binder is an epigenetic epidemiologist and cancer researcher whose research centers on the analysis of high-dimensional, -omic data to generate novel insight into the mechanisms that shape cancer etiology and survivorship. A primary focus of Dr. Binder’s research is the intersection of cancer and aging, examining how epigenetic indicators of biologic age can be used to inform risk management across the cancer control continuum to reduce the burden of disease in diverse communities.​​​

This webinar will discuss the current evidence for the role of nutrition interventions in improving cancer treatment outcomes, challenges in the field and potential strategies for addressing those challenges, as well as future directions in oncology nutrition research.

Kim Robien, PhD, RD, CSO, FAND

Dr. Robien is a cancer epidemiologist and nutrition scientist. She is also a Registered Dietitian and a Certified Specialist in Oncology Nutrition (CSO), and practiced as an oncology dietitian for more than 10 years prior to beginning her research career.

​​​​She is also a Principal Investigator of ENICTO's Coordinating Center.

Research in the field of exercise-oncology has increased dramatically over the past two decades; however, findings from systematic reviews indicate monitoring and reporting of exercise training dose, adherence, and safety is limited. This webinar will outline methods to optimize monitoring and reporting aerobic and resistance training dose, adherence, and adverse events, and highlight opportunities to leverage standardized metrics for rigorous trial conduct and reporting in behavioral interventions

Jessica Scott, PhD

Dr. Scott is an exercise scientist who is interested in characterizing cancer therapy-related cardiovascular toxicity and evaluating the efficacy and mechanisms of exercise therapy to mitigate or reverse cardiovascular toxicity. Dr. Scott first explored toxicity in the extreme setting of spaceflight at NASA Johnson Space Center.

She is also a Principal Investigator of ENICTO's Study on the Effects of Exercise on Side Effects From Treatment for Colorectal Cancer.​​​​​​​

This webinar will present on the policy and systems changes needed to make exercise oncology a standard of care for those with cancer.

Laurie Whitsel, PhD ​​​​​​​

Laurie Whitsel, Ph.D. is the Vice President of Policy Research and Translation for the American Heart Association (AHA), helping to translate science into policy at a national level in the areas of cardiovascular disease and stroke prevention and health promotion. She also serves as senior advisor to the Physical Activity Alliance, leading efforts to create, support, and advocate policy and system changes that enable all Americans to enjoy physically active lives.

Melissa Maitin-Shepard, MPP

Melissa Maitin-Shepard, MPP is the founder of MMS Health Strategies, which supports organizations to develop and implement public policy and other strategies that improve nutrition and public health outcomes. Melissa has particular expertise in nutrition, physical activity, and cancer policy and serves as a policy advisor to Moving Through Cancer. She has also served as a Senior Policy Analyst for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

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The PREFERABLE EFFECT study aimed to investigate the effects of a 9-month supervised exercise program on patients with metastatic breast cancer. The RCT was performed in centers in five European countries and in one Australian center, and included 357 patients with metastatic breast cancer. During the presentation, results for the primary outcomes (fatigue and quality of life) will be presented as well as for several secondary outcomes and cost-effectiveness.

Anne May, PhD

​​​​​​​Anne May, PhD's research focuses on optimal survivorship care for patients living with cancer with an emphasis on lifestyle interventions – from translational and clinical research to patient care. She is especially interested in effects of exercise in cancer patients, in the mediators of the effect and also in methodological aspects related to exercise-oncology research. She is the PI of several ongoing (inter)national multi-center exercise-oncology RCTs (PREFERABLE (H2020-funded), PACT, PERFECT, UMBRELLA-FIT and PAM). Moreover, she is the UMCU PI of the SCOPE project (‘Lean body mass and treatment toxicity in patients with colon cancer’).