On Tuesday, UC-Davis Health System announced that it will take over the day-to-day operations of the California Cancer Registry, the California Department of Public Health's statewide cancer database and surveillance system, Modern Physician reports.
About the Registry
The registry contains information on four million cancer cases that have been diagnosed in California since 1988. The data include:
- Patient demographics;
- Cancer type; and
- Treatment and survival information.
According to UC-Davis, researchers use the data to assess geographic, ethnic and racial risk factors for cancer.
UC-Davis' Plans
Kenneth Kizer -- director of UC-Davis' new Institute for Population Health Improvement -- will oversee the operations of the registry. Kizer spearheaded the effort to create the registry when he served as director of the former California Department of Health Services from 1984 to 1991.
UC-Davis' IPHI said it plans to improve the registry's information management tools to enable:
- Faster and more accurate data collection; and
- Expanded access to more users in California (Robeznieks, Modern Physician, 6/27).