Dr. Kiran Shokar presented a two‑year update on CONNECT, a CPRIT‑funded grant to design and pilot a statewide colorectal cancer screening program. CONNECT's stated objectives are to create a stakeholder network across Texas, develop infrastructure and care pathways to ensure eligible people have screening access regardless of county, standardize data collection across CPRIT grantees, and build tools for modeling cost and impact.

Dr. Shokar described the program's work streams: stakeholder engagement and annual symposiums, clinical network development (mapping ambulatory surgery centers and endoscopy access), pilot programs for new entrants, a public repository of best practices and standardized reporting measures, navigation and community health worker models, and modeling/cost dashboards to compare program designs by cost and impact. She emphasized gaps in colonoscopy access: many Texas counties lack ambulatory surgery centers or endoscopy services, and community health centers have lower screening rates. CONNECT has developed a steering committee, cores for clinical implementation, data and evaluation, policy and financing, and work streams for modeling, mapping and community engagement.

Committee members asked about research opportunities (biobanking, potential predictive test development) and whether the CONNECT database could support those studies. Dr. Shokar said the data infrastructure would support research but the grant's primary emphasis is service impact; extensions for research partnerships are possible. The committee welcomed the project's statewide approach and the potential to scale evidence‑based screening practices.

Next steps: CONNECT will continue pilot work, finalize the public repository, develop dashboards for planners and payers, and report metrics on screening reach and outcomes.