Background: In 2002, the Governor commissioned the first New Jersey Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan (NJ-CCCP).* As part of this initiative, a Cancer Capacity and Needs Assessment (C/NA) was conducted in each county, supported by the Office of Cancer Control and Prevention in the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. To view the Essex County C/NA Report go to Reports.

From 2003 to 2007, Stanley H. Weiss, MD, the Director of the Essex County Cancer Coalition (who is the Principal Investigator of the grant under which the coalition is funded) also served as chairman of the Evaluation Committee for the statewide Task Force on Cancer Prevention, Early Detection and Treatment in New Jersey. In that capacity, he and his staff (among other endeavors) developed the first two statewide biennial status reports on the NJ-CCCP. These are available here.

Dr. Weiss has engaged in numerous other endeavors in the areas of community health, public health, epidemiology, and related fields.  These are listed below, at the end of this page.

You can contribute to the cancer control efforts in Essex County by:

• Joining the Essex County Cancer Coalition (ECCC)

• Educating yourself, friends, and family about the cancer burden in Essex County and the importance of cancer prevention and early detection.

• Learning about and expanding awareness of local cancer resources that provide free and reduced cost services such as cancer screenings and support groups.

• Supporting initiatives that seek to find the causes of cancer, improve care and/or reduce disparities.

* The first NJ-CCCP covered the five-year period 2003-2007.  Substantial portions were written by the ECCC Founder and Director, Dr. Weiss.  The second NJ-CCCP covers the five-year period 2008-2012, and is largely based on the first plan.

Dr. Weiss’s other activities

Stanley H. Weiss, MD, FACP, FACE leads a number of endeavors in community health, public health, epidemiology and related fields, with the participation of members of his research group (who also function as the leadership team of the ECCC).  Links to descriptions of those that are currently or recently active, including personnel, collaborators, publications, and other information, are below.

• Activities related to cancer (including the ECCC).
• Heart attack and stroke prevention.
• Activities related to asthma.
• Health literacy, especially literacy levels of publicly disseminated health education materials.
• Repository of biospecimens dating to the 1980s.

You can also view a poster describing some of these activities that was specially prepared for and presented at the UMDNJ-Graduate School of Biological Sciences faculty poster day, September 13, 2012: