Barry Kramer

Biography

Dr. Barnett S Kramer is the Director of the Division of Cancer Prevention at the National Cancer Institute. He also serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Physician Data Query (PDQ) Editorial Board on Screening and Prevention, and is a member of the PDQ Treatment Editorial Board. He has extensive experience in primary cancer prevention studies, as well as clinical screening trials of lung, ovarian, breast and prostate cancers. He served as an investigator and was on the steering committee for two large cancer screening trials sponsored by the National Cancer Institute: the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, Ovarian (PLCO) Trial; and the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST). His research interests include the investigation of screening-detected cancers that are so indolent that they have little or no lethal potential for the person in whom they are detected (a phenomenon known as "cancer overdiagnosis"). He has a strong interest in weighing and reporting the strength of medical evidence, and created a Medicine in the Media Workshop to help working journalists develop methods of reporting medical evidence. Dr. Kramer often serves as a media contact for stories on cancer prevention, screening, cancer overdiagnosis, and the critical evaluation of the literature.

Research Interest

Screening-detected cancers that are so indolent that they have little or no lethal potential for the person in whom they are detected, also known as cancer overdiagnosis Weighing and reporting the strength of medical evidence