CALL FOR ABSTRACTS — APHA 2026 Annual Meeting and Expo
Cancer
Meeting theme: "Together We Thrive: Health Across the Lifespan"
Submission Deadline: Tuesday, March 31, 2026
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS — APHA 2026 Annual Meeting and Expo
The APHA Cancer Forum invites abstracts (for oral presentations, poster sessions, and roundtable discussions) describing original research that addresses topics including behavioral, socioeconomic, and environmental risk factors for cancer; prevention, screening, and early diagnosis; interventions and strategies to address social determinants of health across the cancer continuum; cancer treatment patterns, access to care, outcomes, and costs; policy-related topics; and cancer survivorship.
Given the annual meeting’s focus on Health Across the Lifespan, the Cancer Forum invites submissions that examine the role of factors, strategies, or policies in cancer-related topics that also consider the role of health across the lifespan. Studies that consider multiple timeframes (for example, in-utero and adulthood, early childhood and adulthood, in-utero and adolescence) are of key interest.
Important dates:
Abstract Submission Deadline — Tuesday, March 31, 2026, 11:59 PM (PDT). There will be no extensions.
Abstract Notification — Presenters will be notified of abstract status via email on Tuesday, June 2, 2026.
Below we outline Cancer Forum priority areas for the 2026 Annual Meeting.
Cancer Prevention among Latino Populations: Risk Factors and Prevention Strategies Across the Life Course Cancer is a leading cause of death among Latino populations making prevention efforts particularly important for this population. However, Latinos are underrepresented in current prevention related research. As Latinos make up nearly 1 in 5 of all Americans, identifying social risk factors and strategies to address these factors at all levels of prevention is critically important across the life course. Studies that consider social factors across the lifespan are of particular interest.
Cancer Risk across the Life Course-Insights from Epidemiologic Research Epidemiologic research studies of cancer risk (etiology) that consider at least two time frames across the life course (for example, in-utero and adulthood, early childhood and adulthood, in-utero and adolescence), preferably more will be considered. High quality cancer epidemiology studies that consider key biases including confounding, selection bias, and information bias are of interest.
Interventions or Policy Strategies to Inform Early-Onset (Young Adult) Cancer Prevention Across the Lifespan Despite substantial efforts to reduce cancer burden, diagnoses for many cancer types are increasing, with trends for increasing cancer incidence among younger adults 18 to 49 years of age (as defined by the National Institutes of Health, see: https://www.cancer.gov/research/areas/public-health/early-onset-cancer-initiative). Novel interventions and targeted policy strategies that consider the interrelationships between cancer risk from birth to diagnosis are needed to address the increasing burden of early-onset cancers.
The Role of Social Determinants of Health Across the Lifespan and Cancer-Related Outcomes Social determinants of health (SDOH) act across the cancer continuum to influence cancer etiology, diagnosis, screening, treatment, and cancer survivorship outcomes. Well-designed and novel studies addressing the role of SDOH across the lifespan in relation to cancer, and considering SDOH at multiple timeframes, are of particular interest. Special consideration will be given to studies that address populations disproportionately impacted by inequitable cancer outcomes, such as racial/ethnic minorities, rural residents, and LGTBQ+ communities.
Women’s Health Across the Lifespan and Cancer Prevention or Survivorship Recent trends show that females have a higher incidence of cancer compared to males before the age of 65 years, with this trend increasing. Studies of preventive factors, interventions, or novel strategies that interact across the lifespan to influence cancer risk/etiology or cancer survivorship (e.g., recurrence, survival, mortality, quality of life, healthy aging) are of interest.
Other Cancer-Related Topics Other topics that span the interest of the APHA Cancer Forum include:
Cancer Prevention Enhancing cancer prevention efforts (e.g., early interventions targeting risk factors/behaviors; inaccurate information/social media posts on cancer prevention).
Cancer Screening/Diagnosis Improving cancer screening and early Diagnosis (e.g., evaluation of community outreach programs to increase screening rates; costs and benefits of technologies to improve diagnosis).
Cancer Survivorship and Supportive/Palliative Care Developing and promoting survivorship strategies and resources for patients and caregivers (e.g., evaluation of social support programs; novel activities to track and address symptoms associated with cancer or cancer treatments; interventions to improve quality of life for survivors and their caregivers).
Cancer Treatment Advancing Cancer Treatment from a Population Health Perspective (e.g., strategies to enhance quality of care, timeliness of care, and patient-reported outcomes; addressing financial hardship/financial toxicity for individuals with cancer).
Cancer-Related Policies, Laws, and Guidelines Evaluating Policies, Laws, and Guidelines that reduce the public health burden of cancer (e.g., improving access/affordability to screening and treatment; tobacco control regulations; insurance reform; controversies in treatment and prevention guidelines).
Submitted abstracts will be evaluated based on their scientific soundness, conceptual and methodological quality, innovation and novelty, and relevance to the above themes. Abstracts submitted to the Cancer Forum are required to include quantitative or qualitative data to be considered for acceptance. Preliminary or pilot data are acceptable, but proposed projects or abstracts with no data at the time of the abstract submission will be rejected.
Reviewers may consider -- possibly among others -- the following in their review:
TOPIC RELEVANCE: Illustrates an aligned topic based on the priority areas of interest outlined above. Importance to public health will also be considered.
PURPOSE: Subject of proposed topic is clear and of high quality.
IMPACT: Topic is significant to the public health academia domain; imparts scholarship to advance academia's mission to improve education and policies for practitioners, researchers, and teachers. Provides evidence of supporting philosophy.
ORIGINALITY: Demonstrates originality and innovation.
TONE: Indicates a working knowledge of operations (e.g., development, challenges, infrastructure) toward improving public health education, training, or services.
OVERALL: Well written, concise, and effectively outlines and communicates abstract scope, context, and rationale.
Important Reminders:
Structured abstracts are limited to 300 words or less, and should include a Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusion Section. Results must include quantitative or qualitative data. Referral to web pages or URLs may not be used for abstracts.
An author may not submit the same abstract to more than one Section, SPIG, Caucus or Forum.
Preferences for oral versus poster presentation will be considered, but the program committee will consider all abstracts for both oral and poster categories. Oral presentations at contributed sessions are generally 13-15 minutes in length (subject to change). An additional 3-5 minutes will be available for discussion and questions from the audience. Presenters at poster sessions should display their work and be available to answer questions throughout the scheduled 60-minute poster session.
If you would like to submit a session proposal, instead of a single abstract, please contact the program planners listed below.
Continuing Education Credit Guidelines
APHA values the ability to provide continuing education credit to physicians, nurses, health educators, and those certified in public health at its annual meeting. Complete all required information when submitting an abstract, so credit can be claimed by attendees. These credits are necessary for attendees to keep their licenses. For a session to be eligible for Continuing Education Credit, each presenter must provide:
An abstract free of trade and/or commercial product names;
At least one MEASURABLE SINGLE outcome (“to understand” or “to learn” are not measurable outcomes and compound outcomes are not acceptable). Use ONLY the following Measurable Action Verbs: Explain, Demonstrate, Analyze, Formulate, Discuss, Compare, Differentiate, Describe, Name, Assess, Evaluate, Identify, Design, Define or List.
A signed Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form with a relevant qualification statement; Example of Acceptable Biographical Qualification Statement: (I have been the principal or co-principal of multiple federally funded grants focusing on the epidemiology of drug abuse, HIV prevention and co-occurring mental and drug use disorders. Among my scientific interests has been the development of strategies for preventing HIV and STDs in out-of-treatment drug users.) Please note that I am the Principal Investigator of this study is NOT an acceptable qualification statement.
All continuing education learning content must be of sound science or professional practice and serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills and professional competence of the health professional. Learning content should be evidence-based if available. A list of over 30 areas will be provided online for you to choose from. You will be asked to choose at least one or up to 6 areas that your presentation will address.
For general inquiries regarding continuing education credit and/or conflict of interest statements, contact Education@apha.org.
Cancellation Policy
If you are unable to present an accepted abstract submission, you must notify the Cancer Forum program planning committee co-chairs as soon as possible. If you are not able to attend, we ask that you find someone to present your slides or stand with your poster so that we can maintain a full program. Speakers who withdraw from the program without adequate advance notification or fail to show up for their scheduled presentations without previously notifying the program planners of cancellation before the Annual Meeting may not be permitted to give oral or poster presentations for the Cancer Forum program at future Annual Meetings.
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