Welcome to the new journal, Preventive Oncology and Epidemiology (POE). I am excited to be the first Editor-in-Chief. POE is an online, open access, international journal publishing original research and reviews across all areas of cancer epidemiology and prevention. My vision for this journal is that it will fill gaps that presently exist in journals in this field – such as reporting of null results, hearing from those in the field and allowing researchers to elaborate on lessons learned from their research. Specifically, by promoting collaboration across all disciplines, from prevention to cancer health policy, POE is the home for researchers dedicated to advancing innovations within cancer epidemiology, prevention, and control.
This journal is innovative in several ways. First, we have an international focus which will allow for comparative studies across countries in many areas. Secondly, the examples of the kinds of topics covered in POE are also innovative and include, but are not limited to:
| (1) | Research focusing on early detection strategies, such as screening programs, as well as the identification of novel biomarkers that could lead to the creation of innovative early detection diagnostics; | ||||
| (2) | The implementation of interventions and programs at a community, state, or country level. The journal also wishes to highlight the barriers associated with implementing community health interventions and the unique challenges impacting underserved and minority populations and different settings, for example rural vs urban; | ||||
| (3) | The implications of state or country health policies on cancer epidemiology and prevention or control efforts; | ||||
| (4) | Research focusing on geographical variations and trends in cancer distribution, within and between populations, at the state or country level. | ||||
| (5) | Community education and engagement strategies to raise awareness of lifestyle risk factors, prevention and early detection strategies and improve delivery of cancer care. | ||||
Many might ask why do we need another journal in this area and why now? None of the current journals have our exact focus. We have an international audience and presence. Our priorities are to be interactive with authors, and to showcase implementation science, as well as demonstration projects. Null Results studies are encouraged, and we will have a feature, lessons learned for implementation and epidemiologic studies that will allow authors to suggest what went wrong and how they would design/implement the study again in the future. Voices from the field manuscripts will allow authors to also describe any political situations that impacted their study.
We welcome submissions from many venues, not exclusively from academics but also from state, county, country health officials and people working out in the field such as community organizations. We accept many types of manuscripts to allow for a variety in methods of sharing knowledge including:
| (1) | Original Research | ||||
| (2) | Reviews (systematic and meta-analyses) | ||||
| (3) | Brief Reports | ||||
| (4) | Editorials | ||||
| (5) | Letters to the Editor | ||||
| (6) | Commentaries | ||||
| (7) | Implementation Protocols | ||||
| (8) | Null results | ||||
| (9) | Lessons Learned | ||||
| (10) | Voices from the Field | ||||
Lastly, some might ask – ‘why do I want to start a new journal at my stage of career?’ I would like to pass on what I have learned based on my 30+ year career in cancer prevention and control science. I began my career when cancer prevention and control was just gaining importance and prestige as part of cancer centers. This research moved from observational to a strong interventional focus with increased emphasis on the community. I have seen health disparities grow and take a center stage. I have seen implementation science be integrated into our study designs. We now increasingly can prevent cancer and prevent death from cancer. Our challenge as a field is to take clues from observational studies and move to intervention ultimately moving what we know works into communities and countries with implementation science. Universally, we can share what works and what doesn't. Further, as a result, we will achieve great strides in making cancer a disease of the past.