06 CANCER CONTROL AND POPULATION SCIENCES (CCPS) PROGRAM ABSTRACT The overall scientific goal of the CCPS Program is to reduce the burden of cancer through hypothesis-driven observational (epidemiological) and interventional translational research that spans the laboratory bench to the bedside and ultimately, the community at large (i.e., “bench to trench”). This goal guides the research of 41 highly productive scientists who are members of this Program – research that is supported by over $15 million in grant funding. Given UAB CCC's location in the Deep South, a region marked by poverty and large constituencies of underserved African-Americans and Appalachian Whites, an overarching theme of our program is to eliminate health disparities across the cancer continuum, from primary cancer risk to improved cancer survivorship. Additionally, since Alabama is a state with one of the highest rates of obesity, and that many of the most prevalent cancers within our catchment area are associated with overweight and obesity, we have worked diligently to develop a research focus in energy balance and cancer. The CCPS program is comprised of a cadre of multidisciplinary investigators who hold faculty appointments in 14 departments and 6 schools and who have broad expertise in areas of molecular and genetic epidemiology, health and cancer outcomes, cancer health disparities, behavioral science, nutrition and obesity, quality of life and end-of-life care, and cancer survivorship research. Long-term partnerships with Historically Black Colleges/Universities in our region, i.e., Morehouse School of Medicine and Tuskegee University provide a collaborative academic network that stretches across the Deep South and has resulted in research and training opportunities that are independently funded and have yielded publications in top-tier journals. The CCPS Program provides an organizational infrastructure that facilitates training for new and junior members, and active forums for collaborative interaction among all of its members. The CCPS also creates an active interface that enhances the integration of laboratory and clinical sciences, with population-based and behavioral science research. During this funding cycle, we have published 361 manuscripts of which 25% were intra-programmatic, 18% inter-programmatic, and 68% inter-institutional. Importantly, many papers and grant-funded research resulted from collaborations with investigators at other NCI-designated cancer centers, such as Fred Hutchinson, MD Anderson, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Moffitt, Mayo, Washington University in St. Louis, Dana-Farber and the Universities of Arizona, California, and Colorado.