Abstracts are now being accepted for the Science of Community Outreach and Engagement Conference (SoCOE), which will be held May 6-8 at the Cambria Hotel in downtown Detroit.
The conference is held annually by the SoCOE Alliance, a group of deputy and associate directors and distinguished cancer researchers at National Cancer Institute-designated and emerging cancer centers across the nation. The group was established to advance co-learning and collaboration toward community-engaged approaches to science and strategies to reduce cancer burden.
The third annual conference theme is “Understanding Societal and Structural Context to Improve Cancer Care and Outcomes,” and will be co-hosted by the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University (WSU), and the Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center at Virginia Commonwealth University. The 2026 co-chairs are Hayley Thompson, Ph.D., associate center director of Community Outreach and Education at Karmanos and professor of Oncology at the WSU School of Medicine, and Monica Baskin, Ph.D., deputy director of Research and associate dean for Cancer Innovation at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center. The conference is partially supported by an NCI grant (R13CA290996) for which Drs. Thompson and Baskin serve as two of six co-principal investigators.
“The SoCOE Conference is distinct from other cancer meetings,” Dr. Thompson said. “As organizers, the SoCOE Alliance centers community stakeholders, are included in most of the panel sessions. The conference also includes an intensive community advocate training program. Karmanos Cancer Institute has sponsored six metropolitan Detroiters who have completed this training and received certificates.”
Last year, the SoCOE Conference, held in Oakland, California, welcomed more than 200 participants from around the country. Sessions focused on timely topics, including integration of community outreach and engagement in basic science, the role of COE in advancing clinical trials, and leveraging AI for outreach and engagement.
The submission of abstracts, due by Jan. 30, and aligned with this year’s theme, is encouraged, including community-engaged interventions, cancer care delivery, access and navigation; strategies for reducing financial toxicity; the digital divide and technology-enhanced outreach; persistent poverty and cancer control; and engaging men in cancer research, education and outreach.
Abstract submissions are welcome from patient advocates and community partners, early-stage investigators, future leaders, community outreach and engagement professionals, clinicians, nurses, social workers, health educators, administrators and cancer center leaders.
Learn more about abstract submissions and the SoCOE Conference here.
Originally published at Today@Wayne.
