OC's major initiatives in 2006 are highlighted in three critical areas of support to the National Cancer Institute.

In August 2006, OC coordinated with CBS-TV and other networks to interview Steven Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., on gene therapy for melanoma.

Communication: Providing Communications Leadership

OC serves as the focal point for communications within NCI, directing the communications agenda and developing messages that support key scientific breakthroughs. We provide communications advice and support to the NCI Office of the Director and others across the Institute to ensure that those messages accurately represent NCI and its strategic objectives. In doing so, we position NCI as the nation's trusted and valued source of credible and up-to-date cancer information. In 2006, we:

• Developed the NCI Intranet, myNCI, a major online communications tool that enables efficient collaboration and information sharing among NCI leadership and staff
  
  
• Supported the Office of the Director through the development of speeches, talking points, and articles
  
  
• Provided NCI leadership and scientists with media and presentation training and audiovisual materials necessary to clearly communicate cancer research results
  
  
• Increased understanding of the research conducted at NCI and extended the NCI brand through the weekly publication of the NCI Cancer Bulletin—winner of the 2006 Award for Excellence from the Print Media Communicator Awards Competition
  
  
• Coordinated the media announcement of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) approval of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine—the first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer—and provided exceptional communications support to other high profile initiatives, including NCI's Translational Research Working Group, cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG™), the SPORE program, The Cancer Genome Atlas, and clinical trial recruitment
  
  
• Orchestrated several major media efforts to address cancer health disparities, including radio and television interviews and public service announcements to reach minority households; expanded our portfolio of Spanish-language materials; and implemented a program to train cancer control leaders in the use of evidence-based outreach materials
  
  
• Strengthened planning, research, and evaluation of communications activities by launching OC's ComPASS (Communications Planning and Strategy System) pilot program

Collaboration: Establishing Linkages across the Cancer Community

Communication that encourages information sharing helps link and integrate the cancer community, resulting in collaboration critical to achieving progress in cancer research. Over the past year, OC jointly managed a number of information technology systems that provide biomedical and administrative reference material to cancer researchers worldwide. We also stepped up efforts to integrate messages and activities among diverse groups both inside and outside of NCI to broaden the impact of their communication initiatives. In 2006, we:

• Received the 2006 NIH Director's Award for implementing the National Network of Tobacco Cessation Quitlines (1-800-QUIT-NOW), a collaborative effort with Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and state tobacco control programs to provide toll-free assistance to smokers and other tobacco users across the U.S.
  
  
• Collaborated with the Office of Science Policy and Assessment to launch the Physician Data Query (PDQ®) Clinical Trials Indicator within NCI's Enterprise System for Performance Results and Information (ESPRI) to provide NCI's Executive Committee and other NCI staff with information about NCI's clinical trials profile drawn from the PDQ Cancer Clinical Trial Registry maintained by OC
  
  
• Launched a new drug information resource on the NCI Web site (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/druginfo/alphalist) directed toward cancer patients, their caregivers, and their families; this resource provides links to information developed by the FDA, the National Library of Medicine, and OC on the approval and use of these drugs, as well as summaries of the latest published research and ongoing clinical trials
  
  
• Maintained and updated the NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms and the NCI Drug Dictionary; the NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms is currently being translated into Spanish
  
  
• Managed NCI's PDQ cancer information database to provide anyone visiting NCI's Cancer.gov Web site with comprehensive, credible, and accurate cancer information
  
  
• Collaborated with the Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP) to plan and implement a major communications strategy to announce results of the national Study of Tamoxifen & Raloxifene (STAR) for the prevention of breast cancer
  
  
• Coordinated communications activities associated with NCI's clinical announcement about the advantage of intraperitoneal chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer
  
  
• Enhanced outreach activities to NCI-designated cancer centers for clinical trial registration in PDQ Cancer Clinical Trials registry to increase registration; continued collaboration with the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) and DCP to ensure timely registration of all sponsored trials in PDQ; collaborated with the World Health Organization's International Clinical Trial Registry Platform in the activities of the Registries Working Group; and continued leadership of the Clinical Data Standards Consortium Subgroup on Clinical Trial Registration to develop a standard clinical trial registration data format
  
  
• Collaborated with CTEP to create a Web resource that provides information to patients and physicians about expanded coverage for experimental and routine services provided to Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in nine specific clinical trials sponsored by NCI

In 2006, OC developed and launched myNCI, a versatile, content-rich Intranet that enhances communication throughout the Institute.

Coordination: Providing a Foundation for Communications Support

Communications at NCI depend on a sophisticated core of services provided by OC. We coordinate the Institute's communications to ensure that evidence-based cancer information is delivered to diverse audiences through credible vehicles using language that resonates and prompts action. We collaborate with both internal and external partners to deliver cutting-edge communications tools, products, and services. In 2006, OC:

• Initiated the design and development of a new Content Management System to provide OC staff with resources to draft text in a more standardized, structured, and modular format that facilitates reuse of cleared information, ensures consistency, and enables delivery through multiple channels
  
  
• Wrote and/or designed and printed more than 64 publications, including The NCI International Portfolio: Addressing the Global Challenge of Cancer; The Nation's Investment in Cancer Research: A Plan and Budget Proposal for FY 2008; The Nation's Progress in Cancer Research: An Annual Report for 2004; The NCI Strategic Plan for Leading the Nation; 3 booklets in the What You Need To Know About Cancer series; and 22 additional patient education booklets
  
  
• Responded to more than 7,500 public inquiries about NCI programs and activities, and averaged over 1.7 million visitors and 13.7 million page views per month to the Institute's multiple-award-winning Web site, Cancer.gov
  
  
• Implemented a strategic plan for the NCI Exhibit Program to better enable the NCI Divisions, Offices, and Centers to showcase their initiatives to a wide range of audiences at meetings and conferences across the country
  
  
• Enhanced internal communication among our own OC staff through the inauguration of the OC Communication Activities Report; the OCUpdate; Notes from Nelvis; and our new NCI Calendar at a Glance; also became the first NCI office to create and implement a shelter-in-place plan that prepares us for Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) activities during an emergency

NCI International Portfolio was one of the many publications that OC wrote and produced in 2006.

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