UC Davis Multi-Disciplinary Cancer Research Training Program to Advance Precision Cancer Prevention and Care in Latin America.

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PROJECT SUMMARY Improvements in health care access and infection control have led to life expectancy increases in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) in Latin America. As the population ages, the Latin American cancer burden has dramatically increased. By 2030, Latin America is expected to have annual averages of 1.6M new cancer cases and 1M cancer deaths. A Latin America Lancet Oncology Commission report highlighted the small amount of preclinical and clinical oncology research originating in the region as a limitation to control cancer burden. Colombia and Peru, the Latin American LMICs with the first and second largest populations, have state-funded national cancer institutes (NCIs) that are cancer treatment reference centers, and which lead national efforts in cancer control and care. However, cancer risk assessment and patient treatment at these institutions is primarily based on tools developed in North American and European patients. Despite having exceptional researchers and physicians, most cancer centers in Latin America lack training programs that would allow them to develop or adapt precision prevention or treatment tools that are appropriate to the ancestry or mutation profiles of individuals from the region. The current funding opportunity is the ideal program to formalize and enhance ongoing collaborations between US-based healthcare researchers and providers in Colombia and Peru. It will provide a solid foundation for precision oncology research knowledge transfer and to build local human capital necessary to develop precision cancer medicine in Latin America. Building on our extensive expertise on Latin American population demography, cancer epidemiology and genetics, NIH funded cancer studies in Latino populations, and a strong track record of research collaboration and training with Colombian and Peruvian researchers, the overall goals of the UC Davis Multidisciplinary Cancer Research Training Program to Advance Precision Cancer Prevention and Care in Latin America are to: 1) Enhance local capacity for precision cancer medicine research in Colombia and Peru by implementing a curriculum that complements and addresses gaps in local training programs and provides hands on experience and support for research project development relevant to the region, 2) Provide hands on training on research resource development including ethics training, biobanking best practices, and cloud-based bioinformatics; and 3) allocate pilot funding for mentored research for basic science and clinically-oriented term trainees. We propose to establish a curriculum to train graduate students and postdoctoral/clinical fellows in precision oncology research. We will prepare trainees to implement and share their new skills in their home countries and to collaborate with U.S-based investigators. We will leverage ongoing collaborations among the program Principal Investigators, universities, and NCIs of Colombia and Peru to identify relevant areas of research that could be enhanced by the training program.