By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Variety News Staff

FACULTY members and researchers at the University of Guam will receive a briefing today on the latest cancer research findings and recommendations from the Pacific Islander Cancer Control Network.
The UOG marketing and communications office said four researchers from PICCN will explain the background and methods used during their research, as well as the results, limitations, and conclusions drawn from each of the projects.
PICCN will make the presentations from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the UOG School of Business and Public Administration Building, Room 131.
F. Allan Hubbell, professor and chairman of the University of California’s Department of Medicine, will discuss his project titled “Overview of the Pacific Islander Cancer Control Network.”
Ron Balajadia will tackle “cancer-related knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices among Chamorros on Guam,” while Dr. Lilli Perez Iyechad and LisaLinda Natividad will talk about social support and breast cancer survivorship on island.
PICCN is one of the 18 special populations networks established by the National Cancer Institute to address the cancer control needs of America’s medically under-served populations.
The network focuses on Pacific Islander groups, specifically Samoans, Guamanians, Chamorros, and Tongan Americans. Its objectives include raising cancer awareness, enhancing recruitment to clinical trials, increasing the number of cancer control investigators, encouraging more research among these Pacific Islanders, and developing new culturally-sensitive materials.
PICCN’s ultimate goal is to eliminate health disparities among ethnic and racial minorities in the United States.