The next generation of large-scale epidemiologic research: implications for training cancer epidemiologists

There is expanding consensus on the need to modernize the training of cancer epidemiologists to accommodate rapidly emerging technological advancements and the digital age, which are transforming the practice of cancer epidemiology. There is also a growing imperative to extend cancer epidemiology research that is etiological to that which is applied and has the potential to affect individual and public health. Medical schools and schools of public health are recognizing the need to develop such integrated programs; however, we lack the data to estimate how many current training programs are effectively equipping epidemiology students with the knowledge and tools to design, conduct, and analyze these increasingly complex studies. There is also a need to develop new mentoring approaches to account for the transdisciplinary team-science environment that now prevails. With increased dialogue among schools of public health, medical schools, and cancer centers, revised competencies and training programs at predoctoral, doctoral, and postdoctoral levels must be developed. Continuous collection of data on the impact and outcomes of such programs is also recommended.