Early Career Award to Drive Lynch Syndrome Management

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Fight Colorectal Cancer (Fight CRC) and the Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Gastrointestinal Cancer (CGA-IGC) are proud to announce the 2024 recipient of the "Early Career Award"—Dr. Trevor Barlowe from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This research grant aims to drive progress in science, clinical care, and advocacy for individuals and families affected by hereditary cancer syndromes, familial colorectal cancer, and early-onset colorectal cancer (EO-CRC).

Dr. Barlowe's project, "Development of a case finding definition for Lynch syndrome in administrative claims databases," addresses a significant gap in Lynch syndrome research due to the lack of a dedicated ICD-10 code. Dr. Barlowe aims to develop a validated case definition to identify individuals with Lynch syndrome in healthcare databases. This advancement will enhance population-level research, facilitate studies in national databases, and improve Lynch syndrome management by enabling better epidemiological characterization and treatment outcome monitoring.

"Dr. Barlowe's proposal addressed an important gap in the field that results from Lynch syndrome as we work towards receiving a dedicated ICD-10 code,” said Bryson Katona, MD, PhD, CGA-IGC President. “Specifically, he is planning to develop a validated case definition for Lynch syndrome, which will not only improve the ability to identify individuals with Lynch syndrome but also facilitate Lynch syndrome-related research in large population databases. Having better tools to study Lynch syndrome at the population level will undoubtedly advance our understanding of Lynch syndrome and improve our management."

An award ceremony will take place at the CGA-IGC Annual Meeting on November 13, 2024, in Philadelphia, Pa., to recognize Dr. Barlowe's contribution and a celebration will follow on November 14 during a social event co-hosted by CGA-IGC and Fight CRC.

“We are honored to grant the Early Career Award alongside our partners at CGA-IGC, supporting groundbreaking research in colorectal cancer and hereditary cancer syndromes,” said Anjee Davis, Fight CRC President. “Our research advocacy team and family history committee have been working on an ICD-10 code for Lynch syndrome over the past several months, and Dr. Barlowe’s work will amplify, accelerate, and support this work. Our partnership reinforces our shared commitment to driving progress in research and clinical care that enhances the lives of those impacted by colorectal cancer.”

This marks a milestone in addressing Lynch syndrome research needs, which currently lack administrative coding, hindering large-scale study efforts.

For more information about CGA-IGC and Fight CRC, please visit cgaigc.com and fightcrc.org.

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