Michael B. Potter, MD, Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine at UC San Francisco and director of the San Francisco Bay Area Collaborative Research Network, is set to lead UCSF’s participation in a new research initiative focused on improving cancer control efforts in Mexico and Latin America. The LISTOS for Cancer Control (Leveraging Implementation Science To Optimize Strategies for Cancer Control) project is made possible through major funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Potter will serve as an implementation scientist and on the executive committee which will oversee all aspects of the LISTOS Center.
In LISTOS, the UCSF team - which also includes Ma Somsouk, MD, MAS, Priscilla Espinosa Tamez, MD, and Abilene Delgado - will join researchers from the University of Texas Houston (UT-Houston), the Mexican National Institute of Public Health (INSP), and the Mexican National Cancer Institute (INCan). Together, the researchers will tackle significant cancer-related disparities by designing and testing new implementation strategies that are culturally relevant and fit the local context. Additionally, they will advance the field of implementation science in Latin America by providing training, mentorship, and other engaging activities to foster the next generation of implementation science leaders.
UCSF team to focus on colorectal cancer screening research
LISTOS will allow us to partner with local health systems to develop laboratories for innovation in cancer screening and early diagnosis and demonstrate both clinical and implementation outcomes that can be replicated nationally in Mexico.
Michael B. Potter, MD
Clinical Professor of Family & Community Medicine, UCSF
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in Mexico, and incidence is rising. However, there are currently no organized screening programs in Mexico. Dr. Potter and Dr. Martin Lajous from INSP, in collaboration with clinical partners in Monterrey, Mexico, will lead the LISTOS colorectal cancer research program to address this need. The goal is to adapt evidence-based interventions (patient education, patient reminders, and patient navigation), design implementation strategies to deliver these interventions, and evaluate the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and implementation outcomes. This project will take place in Mexico’s publicly funded health system for people with social security.
“LISTOS will allow us to partner with local health systems to develop laboratories for innovation in cancer screening and early diagnosis and demonstrate both clinical and implementation outcomes that can be replicated nationally in Mexico,” said Dr. Potter. “This is a terrific opportunity to develop a cadre of implementation scientists in Mexico – and to deepen cross-border relationships between our public universities and the government of Mexico.”
With support from the UCSF Global Cancer Program and its director Katherine Van Loon, MD, MPH, Dr. Potter helped lay the groundwork for colorectal cancer screening research in Mexico through five years of engagement with Mexican researchers, developing a series of pilot studies demonstrating the feasibility of colorectal cancer screening in Mexico.
The NIH funding is under grant U54CA284109.
