Cancer Prevention and Control Training Program

University Of Alabama At Birmingham, Birmingham AL

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

We propose renewal of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Cancer Prevention and Control Training Program T32 training grant. Our training program is the only one in the Deep South (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina). The Deep South has high cancer mortality rates and an increased prevalence of multiple chronic diseases, including obesity and diabetes, which are risk factors for cancer that disproportionately affect African Americans. Our Specific Aims are to: (1) recruit well-qualified pre- and postdoctoral Fellows who aspire to become independent cancer prevention and control researchers and who will address the complex health care challenges in the Deep South; (2) train predoctoral and postdoctoral Fellows by providing mentoring, experiential learning opportunities, and coursework that foster (a) knowledge acquisition regarding cancer prevention and control research, transdisciplinary research, and research ethics, and (b) professional, relational, and leadership skill development; (3) leverage UAB’s rich training environment to provide our Fellows with collaboration opportunities within the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center Cancer Control and Population Science Program; and (4) evaluate and enhance how effectively our training program is meeting the needs of our UAB CPCTP T32 Fellows and expanding the pipeline of future cancer prevention and control scientists. Our training program has three components: mentoring, experiential learning, and coursework. Fellows will receive individualized support from a dual-mentor team selected from our pool of 49 faculty mentors, selected for their prior successful mentoring experience and strong research track records. Experiential learning activities will center primarily on immersion in the laboratories of Fellows’ primary mentors. All Fellows will write a grant and design and conduct their own research study, leveraging the numerous collaborative opportunities within the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center and UAB’s Cancer Control and Population Sciences program. Fellows will disseminate their work via peer-reviewed publications and presentations at scientific conferences. New curricular innovations introduce transdisciplinary research, an approach to creating new knowledge that builds upon standard team science methodologies via integrating new perspectives provided by partners from not only academia, but also industry, government or community groups. To foster transdisciplinary work, our training curriculum includes a new annual transdisciplinary science workshop and a mini-sabbatical. Over the last 35 years, we have trained 171 cancer prevention and control scientists, 82.5% of whom have launched successful careers, predominantly in cancer-related fields. This track record demonstrates how seriously we take NIH’s goal to train a cancer-focused scientific workforce, and we are prepared to build upon our legacy of success.