A Major Milestone for Pacific Health
The University of Hawaiʻi (UH) Cancer Center has achieved a significant international milestone. Its Body Composition Laboratory has been officially designated as a Collaborating Centre by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This rare honor places the Kakaʻako-based lab among only eight such facilities worldwide focused on human health, and the only one in its specific network.
Led by Chief Scientific Officer John Shepherd, the laboratory will spend the next four years working closely with the IAEA to refine how we measure body composition—a vital factor in understanding how obesity influences cancer risk.
Connecting Nutrition to Cancer Risk
Obesity is a major public health challenge, linked to approximately 20% of all cancer diagnoses. However, clinical understanding of body composition—which includes measuring body fat, lean mass, and total body water—remains fragmented in many parts of the world. The UH Cancer Center aims to change that by providing the tools and standardization necessary for health workers to track these metrics accurately.
- Standardizing global assessment techniques for body fat and lean mass.
- Hosting technical workshops for IAEA member states.
- Developing resources to ensure body composition data informs clinical nutrition policy.
- Conducting collaborative research to bridge the data gap in underserved regions.
Body composition measurement is where nutrition science becomes quantitative. The countries that need this data most have the least access to the instruments that produce it. This designation lets us put those methods directly into the hands of health workers across the Pacific.
— John Shepherd, Laboratory Director and UH Cancer Center Chief Scientific Officer
Why This Matters for the Pacific
The UH Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in the Pacific, serving a catchment area that stretches from Hawaiʻi to American Sāmoa, Guam, and beyond. This new IAEA partnership reinforces the center's mission to address the unique health disparities and environmental factors facing these populations. By standardizing these measurements, the center is not just conducting research; it is creating a framework for life-saving interventions across a vast, historically underserved region.