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International research and collaboration has been a part of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) mission since its creation in 1937. Early on, efforts were limited to international exchange of information to ensure that US cancer patients could benefit from advances in other countries. As NCI’s research grant portfolio grew in the 1950s, it included a modest number of grants to foreign institutions, primarily in the United Kingdom and Europe. In the 1960s, the development of geographic pathology, which aimed to study cancer etiology through variations in cancer incidence and risk factors, led to an increase in NCI-funded international research, including research in low- and middle-income countries. In this paper, we review key international research programs, focusing particularly on the first 50 years of NCI history. The first NCI-led overseas research programs, established in the 1960s in Ghana and Uganda, generated influential research but also struggled with logistical challenges and political instability. The 1971 National Cancer Act was followed by the creation of a number of bilateral agreements with foreign governments, including China, Japan, and Russia, to support cooperation in technology and medicine. Although these agreements were broad without specific scientific goals, they provided an important mechanism for sustained collaborations in specific areas. With the creation of the NCI Center for Global Health in 2011, NCI’s global cancer research efforts gained sustained focus. Because the global cancer burden has evolved over time, increasingly impacting low- and middle-income countries, NCI’s role in global cancer research remains more important than ever.

According to the Pan American Health Organization, noncommunicable diseases, including cancer, are the leading causes of preventable and premature death in the Americas. Governments and health care systems in Latin America face numerous challenges as a result of increasing morbidity and mortality from cancer. Multiple international organizations have recognized the need for collaborative action on and technical support for cancer research and control in Latin America. The Center for Global Health at the US National Cancer Institute (NCI-CGH) is one entity among many that are working in the region and has sought to develop a strategy for working in Latin America that draws on and expands the collaborative potential of engaged, skilled, and diverse partners. NCI-CGH has worked toward developing and implementing initiatives in collaboration with global partners that share the common objectives of building a global cancer research community and translating research results into evidence-informed policy and practice. Both objectives are complementary and synergistic and are additionally supported by an overarching strategic framework that is focused on partnerships and science diplomacy. This work highlights the overall strategy for NCI-CGH engagement in Latin America through partnerships and diplomacy, and highlights selected collaborative efforts that are aimed at improving cancer outcomes in the region.

As the burden of non-communicable diseases such as cancer continues to rise in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), it is essential to identify and invest in promising solutions for cancer control and treatment. Point-of-care technologies (POCTs) have played critical roles in curbing infectious disease epidemics in both high- and low-income settings, and their successes can serve as a model for transforming cancer care in LMICs, where access to traditional clinical resources is often limited. The versatility, cost-effectiveness, and simplicity of POCTs warrant attention for their potential to revolutionize cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment. This paper reviews the landscape of affordable POCTs for cancer care in LMICs with a focus on imaging tools, in vitro diagnostics, and treatment technologies and aspires to encourage innovation and further investment in this space., This review explores the current landscape of point-of care (POC) tools available for cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment in resource-limited settings. With a concerted effort to support international collaborations in technology development, fund promising POC technology concepts for translation in low-resource settings, and train the next generation of scientists in resource-appropriate design, the engineering research community can be a vital part of delivering quality cancer care to all patients.

This paper introduces a variant of the Demon's algorithm with an anisotropic smoothing term designed for the registration of surfaces with significant conformal differences. Because of the chosen implicit surface representation, the deformation field at each iteration can be easily defined with respect to the evolving surface. Anisotropic smoothing is performed preferentially in the tangent plane to the surface, preserving local, complex deformations. This method is applied to the registration of consecutive neonatal cortical surfaces from MR images acquired at 30 and 40 week gestational ages. Our method preserves the emergence of small, new folds, while greatly reducing noise in the resulting deformation field. © 2013 IEEE.

9 Cancer kills more people worldwide than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined, and lowand middle-incomecountries (LMICs) bear themajority of this burden.While success indetection, diagnosis, and treatment hasbeen reported in LMICs through theuse of low-cost, point-of-care (POC) technologies, this areahasbeen largely overlookedby themedical device industry and venture capital communities, as low-cost solutions offer less financial incentive for investment. The program presented here aims to simplify the pathway tomarket by funding investigation teams to adapt and validate existing technologies in low-resource settings. This program specifically supports the translation of these technologies, prioritizing patient outcomes in a manner not typically seen. This program, currently in its second year, will soon support 15 technologies for cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment (e.g., in vitro assays, imaging devices, ablation devices). It is anticipated that by year seven of the program, at least nine projects will have progressed through optimization, clinical validation, and business planning for dissemination and commercialization. Each project consists of an adaptation phase (two years: $500k total costs/year) and validation phase (three years: $1M total costs/year). Projects are selected through the National Institutes of Health peer review process by a special emphasis panel briefed on the goals of the program. Projects are competitively vetted for Phase II funding based on completion of Phase I milestones. All teams contain expertise in engineering, oncology, and business/manufacturing, uniquely leveraging their devices for success in translation. The seven preliminarily funded projects are making strides in optimization, and the projects range from anLED-based photodynamic therapy device for oral cancer to POC tests for Hepatitis C viral antigen level and viral load detection. This program is funded by theNational Cancer Institute and theNational Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at the National Institutes of Health. AUTHORS’ DISCLOSURES OF POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: No COIs from the authors. Michael Gwede,Pushpa Tandon,Miguel Ossandon,Houston Baker,Rao Divi, Lokesh Agrawal, andPaul C. Pearlman, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, United States of America; and Vinay Pai and Tiffani Lash,National Institute ofBiomedical ImagingandBioengineering,National Institute ofHealth,Department ofHealthand Human Services, United States of America Corresponding author:Michael Gwede,National Cancer Institute, 9609Medical CenterDr, Rockville,MD20850; 240-276-7634; Michael.gwede@nih.gov DOI: 10.1200/JGO.2016.004499 Michael Gwede Pushpa Tandon Vinay Pai Miguel Ossandon Houston Baker Tiffani Lash Rao Divi Lokesh Agrawal Paul C. Pearlman 17s jgo.ascopubs.org JGO – Journal of Global Oncology © 2016 by American Society of Clinical Oncology Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

Optical breast imaging offers the possibility of noninvasive, low cost, and high sensitivity imaging of breast cancers. Poor spatial resolution and a lack of anatomical landmarks in optical images of the breast make interpretation difficult and motivate registration and fusion of these data with subsequent optical images and other breast imaging modalities. Methods used for registration and fusion of optical breast images are reviewed. Imaging concerns relevant to the registration problem are first highlighted, followed by a focus on both monomodal and multimodal registration of optical breast imaging. Where relevant, methods pertaining to other imaging modalities or imaged anatomies are presented. The multimodal registration discussion concerns digital x-ray mammography, ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, and positron emission tomography. © 2012 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).