Behavioral Science Committee
The mission of the BSC is to improve the lives and outcomes of children with cancer and their families through research and dissemination of empirically supported knowledge. The BSC recognizes that children with cancer and their families have unique needs requiring targeted scientific investigation and clinical implementation. The committee also seeks to educate professional and lay communities to promote better understanding and care of children with cancer and their families.
Comprised largely of psychologists and neuropsychologists, the BSC enjoys a diverse membership that includes social workers, nurses, physicians, and clinical research associates. These interdisciplinary collaborations, and the extensive training that psychologists and neuropsychologists receive in research design and outcome measurement, allow the BSC to lead and contribute meaningfully to the planning and conduct of QOL, behavioral and neurocognitive studies, and the development, implementation and dissemination of behavioral science interventions. Importantly, BSC members contribute perspectives of behavioral health researchers and clinicians who work with children with cancer, and their families, to discussions of COG practices including informed consent, return of research results, empirically supported interventions, and management of late effects. BSC members collaborate in empirical research within COG on behavioral science interventions that are both child- (pharmacological and/or behavioral) and systems-directed (family, school, health care providers).
COG offers advantages for conducting collaborative research in pediatric oncology. Examining behavioral science outcomes in the setting of clinical trials is essential to help determine the differential impact of new chemotherapy agents, varied treatment regimens, and therapy reduction on behavioral health outcomes. Because most pediatric cancers are rare, cooperative group research allows for large, diverse, and representative sample sizes to be statistically powered to answer research questions using homogeneous samples. It also provides the opportunity to examine risk and protective factors beyond what is possible in single institution studies.