Advanced Course on Cancer-related Health Disparities Research, Mentoring, & Leadership

Indiana University Indianapolis, Indianapolis IN

Investigators

Abstract

The overarching goal of the Advanced Course on Cancer-related Population Health Research, Mentoring, and Leadership is to provide innovative, state-of-the-art, evidence-based career development experiences to faculty participants to enhance their skills in population health cancer research, leadership, and mentoring. Our long-term goal is to enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nations’ biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs that will culminate in the reduction of the burden of cancer across various communities in the United States. We bring expertise in cancer-related databases, population health behavioral interventions, mentoring, and leadership training. Our specific aims are:  Aim 1: To recruit and select qualified cancer focused researchers into the R25 Program. We will prioritize early-stage faculty and faculty for whom population health cancer research is a new area of research.  Aim 2: To introduce participants to cancer-related databases, such as SEER, SEER-Medicare, and “big data” such as the Utah Population Database (UPDB) and the All Payer Claims Database (APCD) to investigate cancer-related population health. With more states adopting APCDs and large databases linkages, this training will provide the participants a competitive edge in cancer research.  Aim 3: To train participants on population health behavioral interventions as well as community-engaged research approaches to improve cancer health outcomes across populations. We will use a combination of 1) didactic and 2) project design studios to provide participants with impactful interactive experiences for enhancing their knowledge and skill for incorporating population health behavioral interventions into their research.  Aim 4: To enhance the mentoring skills and strengthen leadership capacity of cancer researchers through interactive evidence-based educational experiences. We will use a combination of in-person and novel educational technologies to provide participants with effective mentor training in areas such as building effective mentoring teams and providing context-aware mentoring. The leadership training will be an interactive and experiential program on assessing leadership style in order to manage conflicts, improve communication, handle negotiations, and become high performance researchers.     Aim 5: To evaluate the Advanced Course on Cancer-related Population Health Research, Mentoring, and Leadership.   Opportunity and Potential Impact: This R25 Program addresses a critical gap in the cancer academic workforce by equipping cancer focused faculty committed to pursuing independent academic careers with advanced career development experiences. Successful completion of the goals of the program will lead to the infusion of an additional cadre of 125 well-trained faculty, thus expanding the capacity to improve cancer health outcomes in populations and communities across the United States.Â