Meeting Overview
Join the President’s Cancer Panel on June 8–9, 2026, for a 2-day public meeting to explore lifestyle and environmental risk factors for cancers, including early-onset cancers, and identify potential approaches to reduce cancer risk.
A substantial percentage of cancers diagnosed in the United States have been attributed to lifestyle factors—such as tobacco use, excess body weight, diet, heavy alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, and carcinogenic infections—in addition to environmental exposures. Leveraging what we know to prevent cancer presents a significant opportunity for the National Cancer Program. Rising diagnoses of a number of cancer types, including colorectal, breast, uterine, and kidney cancers, among people younger than 50 have created additional urgency to identify and address modifiable cancer risk factors to reduce the national cancer burden.
This meeting is open to the public and will be broadcast live. Please register if you plan to attend in person or virtually. For more information about the event, see details below. You can also connect with the Panel on LinkedIn to stay up to date on Panel activities.
Event Details
Date & time:
Day 1: June 8, 2026 | 8:45 a.m.–5:00 p.m. EDT
Day 2: June 9, 2026 | 8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. EDT
Location: Rockville, MD
Registration:
Register to attend in person
Register to attend virtually
Agenda
Day 1: June 8, 2026
| Time (EDT) | Session |
|---|---|
| 8:45–9:15 a.m. | Opening Remarks & Introductions |
| 9:15–11:05 a.m. | Session 1: Overview of Cancer Trends & Risk Factors Trends in Cancer Incidence and Mortality in the U.S. Cancer Trends in Ontario, Canada - Impact of COVID Environmental and Occupational Risk Factors for Cancer Modifiable Cancer Risk Factors: Current Evidence, National Prevalence, and Opportunities for Intervention Discussion |
| 11:05–11:25 a.m. | Break |
| 11:25 a.m.–12:25 p.m. | Session 2: Environmental Risk Factors for Cancer—Part 1 What the Epidemiology of Early Onset Cancers Can Teach Us About Environmental Exposures, Susceptibility, and Prevention Environmental Drivers of Early-Onset Cancer: Rethinking Exposure, Susceptibility, and Risk Discussion |
| 12:25–1:10 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:10–2:30 p.m. | Session 3: Environmental Risk Factors for Cancer—Part 2 NIEHS and NTP: Identifying Environmental Carcinogens to Inform Action Mutational Signatures for Identifying the Mutagenic Causes of Cancer Operationalizing the Exposome for Cancer Prevention and Control Discussion |
| 2:30–2:45 p.m. | Break |
| 2:45–3:45 p.m. | Session 4: Environmental Risk Factors for Cancer—Part 3 Environmental Risk Factors for Cancer: Agricultural and Occupational Exposures Measurements for Understanding Air Toxics Exposure and Cancer Risk Around Industrial Facilities Discussion |
| 3:45–4:45 p.m. | Closing Discussion |
| 4:45–5:00 p.m. | Public Comments & Closing Remarks |
Day 2: June 9, 2026
| Time (EDT) | Session |
|---|---|
| 8:30–8:45 a.m. | Opening Remarks |
| 8:45–10:45 a.m. | Session 1: Lifestyle Risk Factors for Cancer Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer: Advancing Risk Factors to Preventive Interventions Metabolic Drivers of Gynecologic Cancer: Opportunities for Prevention Diet, Metabolism, and Cancer Risk: From Evidence to Prevention in U.S. Populations Zip Code to Genomic Code: Neighborhood Disadvantage and Cancer Biology Discussion |
| 10:45–11:05 a.m. | Break |
| 11:05 a.m.–12:05 p.m. | Session 2: Addressing Modifiable Risk Factors—Part 1 Using State-Level Infrastructure to Advance Chronic Disease Prevention From Willpower to Willingness: Technology-Based Psychological Approaches to Healthy Behavior Change Opportunities to Improve the U.S. Diet Through Policy and Regulation |
| 12:05–12:45 p.m. | Lunch |
| 12:45–1:45 p.m. | Session 3: Addressing Modifiable Risk Factors—Part 2 Reducing EDC Exposures, Advancing Health: Policy and Market-Facing Approaches Discussion |
| 1:45–2:00 p.m. | Break |
| 2:00–2:50 p.m. | Closing Discussion |
| 2:50–3:00 p.m. | Public Comments & Closing Remarks |
Speakers
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Ludmil Alexandrov, PhD | Professor of Bioengineering and Cellular & Molecular Medicine, University of California San Diego Deputy Director, Sanford Stem Cell Fitness and Space Medicine Center San Diego, CA |
| Victoria Bae-Jump, MD, PhD | Professor and Associate Division Director of Gynecologic Oncology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Leader, UNC Lineberger Endometrial Center of Excellence (ECCE) Leader, UNC Lineberger Gynecologic Oncology Clinical Trials Pod Medical Director of Clinical Operations, UNC Lineberger Clinical Trials Office Chapel Hill, NC |
| Priti Bandi, PhD | Scientific Director of Risk Factors and Screening Research, American Cancer Society Atlanta, GA |
| Christine Brezden-Masley, MD, PhD, MSc, FRCPC | Medical Director, Cancer Program; Medical Oncologist; Professor of Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital Director, Marvelle Koffler Breast Centre, Sinai Health Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto Associate Scientist, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute Toronto, ON, Canada |
| Jonathan Bricker, PhD | Endowed Chair in Cancer Prevention and Professor of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutch Cancer Center Affiliate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington Seattle, WA |
| Andrew Chan, MD, MPH | Chief, Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital Daniel K. Podolsky Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Boston, MA |
| Peter DeCarlo, PhD | Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD |
| Neha Goel, MD, MPH | Associate Attending Surgeon; Chief of Disparities of the Department of Surgery; Jeanne A. Petrek Junior Faculty Chair, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York, NY |
| Rena Jones, PhD, MS | Senior Investigator, Occupational & Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute Rockville, MD |
| Charlotte Kuperwasser, PhD | Professor of Developmental, Molecular, and Chemical Biology, Tufts University School of Medicine Director, Tufts Convergence Laboratory of Biomedical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences Co-Founder, Naveris Boston, MA |
| Jennifer McPartland, PhD | Director, Safer Chemicals Project, The Pew Charitable Trusts Washington, DC |
| Christina Roberto, PhD | Mitchell J. Blutt and Margo Krody Blutt Presidential Professor of Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Founding Director, Center for Food and Nutrition Policy, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA |
| Ciara Rukse, DrPH, MPH | Branch Head, Cancer Prevention and Control Branch, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health Durham, NC |
| Meredith Shiels, PhD, MHS | Senior Investigator, Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute Rockville, MD |
| Fred Tabung, PhD, MSPH | Associate Professor, The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Comprehensive Cancer Center Columbus, OH |
| Mary Beth Terry, PhD | Professor of Epidemiology and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University Associate Director for Population Sciences, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center Executive Director, Silent Spring Institute New York, NY |
| Peter Thorne, PhD, MS | University of Iowa Distinguished Chair; Professor, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health; Director and Co-Founder, Human Toxicology Program, University of Iowa Iowa City, IA |
| Douglas Walker, PhD | Associate Professor, Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Emory University Atlanta, GA |
| Kyle Walsh, PhD | Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and U.S. National Toxicology Program Durham, NC |