This comprehensive Forum examines critical trends in cancer affecting Latino communities and national efforts to achieve health equity. The session features insights from the President’s Cancer Panel Initial Assessment of the National Cancer Plan, the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Cancer Health Equity initiatives, and successful community engagement models from the NIH All of Us Research Program.

Leaders discuss the urgent need for data disaggregation across Latino subpopulations to develop precision interventions, the impact of social determinants of health on cancer outcomes, and proven strategies for building Latino patient advocacy capacity. The Forum concludes with breakthrough approaches to inclusive biomedical research that have achieved near-proportional Latino enrollment (16% compared to 19% of U.S. population).

Key Topics Include:

• Data disaggregation strategies for precision research in heterogeneous Latino populations
• President’s Cancer Panel priorities: biomedical research investment, insurance access, workforce diversity, community engagement, and data sharing
• Social determinants of health driving 75-80% of cancer cases—from education and economic stability to housing insecurity
• Latino Cancer Patient Advocate Training Program: building research advocacy capacity
• NCI Center for Cancer Health Equity programs: research funding, workforce diversity training, and community initiatives
• All of Us Research Program success: 135,000+ Latino participants and groundbreaking genome-wide association studies representation
• Community health worker (promotora) models eliminating enrollment barriers through trusted, one-stop service delivery
• Action steps: Medicaid expansion, culturally-tailored interventions, increased cancer screening program funding

Speakers include: Ysabel Duron (The Latino Cancer Institute); Elizabeth Jaffee, MD, FAACR, FACP, FAAAS, FAIO, (President’s Cancer Panel Chair, Johns Hopkins); Dr. Sandra San Miguel, DrPH, MS (NCI Center for Cancer Health Equity); Cynthia Mojica, PhD, MPH (Oregon State University); Barbara Segarra-Vázquez, DHSc (University of Puerto Rico); Dr. Janeth Sanchez, PhD, MPH (NIH All of Us Research Program); and Adolph Falcón, MPP (National Alliance for Hispanic Health).