The Iowa Cancer Consortium’s Cancer & the Environment Task Force is hosting two level-setting calls to bring together anyone interested in learning more about the intersection of environmental and human health as it relates to cancer in Iowa. Presentations will be recorded and shared. 

Our first call on environmental exposure will take place on Monday, November 27, at 3 PM CST. We will host Molly Jacobs, MPH, Director of Applied Research for the Sustainable Chemistry Catalyst, a research institute at the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Molly has over 20 years of experience in public health research and practice culminating in a deep expertise on the environmental and occupational causes of cancer. After her presentation, participants will be able to: 

• Explain how exposure to certain environmental factors can increase cancer risk 

• Describe methods used to determine and monitor environmental causes of cancer in environmental epidemiology 

• Understand the importance of nuanced environmental risk communication in health protection 

More about the Cancer & the Environment Task Force:

The Iowa Cancer Registry’s 2023 Cancer in Iowa Report found that Iowa is second in the country for cancer incidence and is the only state with increasing cancer incidence rates. The common media narrative links these rates to environmental factors like heavy pesticide use. In response, the Registry has asked the Consortium to help convene a group of environmental health experts with an interest in cancer control to examine the impact of agricultural and environmental exposures on the state’s cancer rates in hopes of better understanding the current landscape of the relationships between pesticides, pollutants, and cancer, as well as gaps that may exist in communication and collaboration.

Please email Caroline Powell (powell@canceriowa.org) with any questions.

Zoom information provided with registration confirmation.