Work

National Cancer Institute’s President’s Cancer Panel Report

Challenge

The President’s Cancer Panel (PCP) was established by Congress in 1971 as a part of the National Cancer Act. The Panel, whose members are appointed by the President of the United States, functions by monitoring development and execution of the National Cancer Program and annually reports to the President on barriers to progress in reducing the burden of cancer. The Panel convenes a series of meetings focused on a specific topic relevant to reducing the burden of cancer and gathers stakeholder input. Annually, the Panel submits a report and makes recommendations for improvements in the National Cancer Program. Lumina Corps serves as a contact and liaison with virtually every facet of the cancer community—researchers, physicians, advocacy organizations, universities, cancer centers, and the public. Our team provides planning and logistical support for each meeting, and assists in preparing the PCP’s Annual Report to the President and in developing journal articles, press releases, and special communication pieces for publication. A diverse range of topics relative to the National Cancer Program are addressed, including  Improving Cancer-Related Outcomes with Connected Health; Cancer Communication in the Digital Era: Opportunities and Challenge; Accelerating HPV Vaccine Uptake: Urgency for Action to Prevent Cancer. 

Our Approach

• Our team assists the Panel and NCI Executive Secretary with concept research and development, and identification (through targeted outreach) and recruitment of a wide range of stakeholders who participate and provide input on selected topics of importance to the National Cancer Program. This has included engaging members of the public and representatives of marginalized populations to testify before the Panel and at town hall meetings hosted by the Panel.  
• We provide meeting and logistics services including planning, writing, website, and administrative support for four or more meetings per year including site selection, invitations and registration website, briefing books and other meeting materials. We manage travel and lodging for all participants; provide onsite support, including meeting room setup, and on-site accessibility for those with disabilities. 
• Lumina Corps team members plan, write, and design the Panel’s Annual Report to the President (print and 508-compliant digital versions), timed with the online release and media activities. 

National Institute on Aging, Division of Neuroscience (NIA DN/NIH) 

Challenge 

The Division of Neuroscience’s Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP) aims to identify gene alleles contributing to increased risk for or protection against AD, provide insight as to why individuals with known risk factor genes do not develop AD, and identify potential avenues for therapeutic approaches and prevention of the disease. The Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC) conducts genome-wide association studies to identify genes associated with an increased risk of developing late-onset AD. Lumina Corps supports the NIA ADSP and other AD-related initiatives with meeting planning and science writing. 

Our Approach

• Lumina Corps provides accurate, timely scientific writing support to more than 1,000 NIA scientific video conferences and program meetings including annual face-to-face sessions.  
• Lumina Corps logistical support staff and science writers provide consortium meetings planning and logistical onsite support, attend, audio record and providing writing support for 30 ADGC scientific presentations per year on the NIH campus or through video conference. 

White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health 

Challenge 

A team led by the White House Domestic Policy Council, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services sought to organize a conference to galvanize action from both public and private sector advocates around its National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health.  

The historic conference was held in Washington, DC on September 28, 2022 and attended by more than 600 anti-hunger and nutrition advocates; food companies; the health care community; local, state, territorial, and Tribal governments; and people with lived experiences. President Biden, Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Bacerra, members of Congress, and notable hunger advocates such as José Andrés, led panel discussions and presentations organized around five key pillars of achieving transformative change in the United States to end hunger, improve nutrition and physical activity, reduce diet-related disease, and close the disparities surrounding them. 

Our Approach 

• Lumina Corps’ team of experts planned a comprehensive approach for executing a high profile in-person and livestreamed experience for thousands of participants.   
• Integrated services included: event strategy, conference logistics planning, event logo design, website design and development, app development, agenda support, online registration, outreach and engagement, speaker logistics coordination, security coordination with U.S. Secret Service and Federal Protective Service, communications support, media coordination for 80 members of the press, accessibility support for unique needs of attendees, video production for Conference content, note taking and final report development.  
• The event strategy and logistics team transformed the downtown venue into a collaborative and secure space with seven event stages, including a main stage for President Biden, Cabinet officials, and members of Congress to speak, and multiple breakout rooms for panel discussions. 
• The on-site production studio live streamed content throughout the venue, to the conference app, and YouTube with five concurrent live stream channels during the breakout sessions.   

• The digital experience team created an engaging conference app utilized by on-site attendees as well as thousands of remote participants to manage their conference agenda, engage real-time throughout the conference, and access content from all breakout sessions during and after the conference. 
• A team of more than 50 supported the on-site experience the day of the conference, from managing check-in to facilitating media coverage and full-scale production. 

National Cancer Institute, Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities/National Institutes of Health (NCI CRCHD/NIH) Patient Navigation Research Program (PNRP)

Challenge 

The Patient Navigation Research Program (PNRP) aimed to reduce health disparities in the timely delivery of standard cancer care services after cancer screening detected an abnormal finding. Lumina Corps supported the program by evaluating care pathways, helping to identify barriers to timely care, and documenting best practices and lessons learned. 

Our Approach 

• Our team developed and implemented a comprehensive program evaluation plan including a logic model, conceptual framework, and core data elements for the evaluation. Many patients with cancer identified financial problems and health comorbidities as main barriers to healthcare access, and patients with abnormal screens identified language/interpreter issues as their main barriers. 
• We assessed the extent to which PNRP grantee sites were achieving PNRP goals and objectives and the quality of their accomplishments with quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis.  Evaluation findings demonstrated that the program was able to decrease the time typically taken for patients to receive a diagnostic resolution and increased rates of treatment initiation among patient cohorts who otherwise failed to begin treatment within 90 days of a cancer diagnosis.