HCP Professor, John Z. Ayanian, MD, MPP, was recently invited to deliver the Plenary Keynote lecture at the Asia Pacific Conference on "Health Policy & Planning in an Era of Emerging Technology for Cancer." The November conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was jointly organized by the Malaysian Ministry of Health and the College of Public Health Medicine of the Malaysian Academy of Medicine. Over 250 participants attended the conference from 12 countries in the Asia Pacific region including senior health ministry officials and leaders from academic medicine, public health and the World Health Organization.

Following the opening address by Liow Tiong Lai, Minister of Health for Malaysia, Dr. Ayanian delivered his lecture titled "Health Policy & Planning for Optimal Cancer Outcomes." Ayanian presented issues related to prevention, access to care, financing, and quality of care for cancer, drawing on recent research and policy approaches to these issues in the United States and other countries. A major focus of the conference was the potential response of Asian countries with advancing health care systems and aging populations to the growing prevalence and impact of cancer in the region.

Within HCP, Dr. Ayanian leads several major projects related to improving cancer screening (e.g., Improving Systems for Colorectal Cancer Screening and Improving Surveillance for Colorectal Polyps) and cancer treatment and outcomes (e.g., CanCORS and Developing Quality Indicators for Advanced Cancer). He also leads the Outcomes Research Program of the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.