National Cancer Institute Collaborates with School-based Organization on Reporting Fellowships
Columbia, Mo. (June 13, 2016) — The Association of Health Care Journalists and the National Cancer Institute announced they will collaborate this year to present the first National Cancer Reporting Fellowships. The association and its Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism are based at the Missouri School of Journalism.
Up to 15 journalists from across the country will be selected to spend a week on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, to increase their understanding of and ability to report accurately on complex scientific findings, provide insight into the work of cancer researchers and to better localize cancer-related stories.
“The AHCJ-NCI partnership will help fellows better understand and appreciate the scientific process and how to obtain evidence-based information,” said Len Bruzzese, AHCJ’s executive director. “Reporters will be able to focus on understanding and interpreting research findings – particularly cancer research. They will be aided in making sense of cancer statistics,” he said.
Bruzzese is also an associate professor in the journalism school.
The fellowship program will take place in late October, but applications are due by Aug. 26 this year.
Sessions will arm fellows with the tools they need to read oncology studies, as well as review the hierarchy and quality of evidence. They will learn to make sense of guidelines and screenings. The fellows will meet frontline researchers in their labs. They will learn of obstacles to care and disparities in access. The fellows will understand how clinical trials work and how they are evolving. They will learn how to use online tools in their reporting, as well as taking close looks at such topics as genomics. And much more.
Candidates should be professional journalists working in the United States. The fellowship includes AHCJ membership, travel expenses, a food stipend and lodging. The 2016 fellowship will be Oct. 23-27.
The Association of Health Care Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public understanding of health care issues. With about 1,500 members across the United States and around the globe, its mission is to improve the quality, accuracy and visibility of health care reporting, writing and editing. The association and its Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism provide training, resources and a professional home for journalists. Offices are based at the Missouri School of Journalism.
The National Cancer Institute leads the National Cancer Program and the NIH’s efforts to dramatically reduce the prevalence of cancer and improve the lives of cancer patients and their families, through research into prevention and cancer biology, the development of new interventions, and the training and mentoring of new researchers
The National Institutes of Health, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 institutes and centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases.
Updated: September 29, 2020