Research Education Core

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PROJECT SUMMARY: RESEARCH EDUCATION CORE The goal of the Meharry Medical College/Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center/Tennessee State Cancer Partnership (MVTCP) Research Education Program is to facilitate the growth and career development of a new population of outstanding underrepresented minority (URM) cancer researchers. Our current Pathway to Discovery program begins with cancer research education for high school students, continues for undergraduate Biology/Chemistry majors at Tennessee State University (TSU) and culminates with support for graduate students (PhD, MSPH and MPH) at Meharry Medical College (MMC) and TSU. The program also includes research support for medical students at MMC and Vanderbilt University (VU). This program has proven to be very successful in supporting the progression of a diverse population of students into cancer research careers. We propose to enhance the efficacy of the Pathway to Discovery program by including psychosocial resources derived from social cognitive career theory (SCCT). Research experience will engage students in the development and evolution of self- efficacy (SE) as well as a sense of being part of the scientific research community [science identity (SI)]. SCCT research shows that strong SE and SI are especially crucial to URM students entering and completing the necessary programs to pursue research careers, including cancer research. We propose a program grounded in SCCT that provides psychosocial resources and research experiences needed to develop and sustain SE and SI. MVTCP is particularly suited to target African American and Latinx undergraduate students (at TSU), graduate (at TSU and MMC) and medical students (at MMC). High school students come from two local STEM magnet schools with predominant URM student populations. To achieve our goals, we propose the following aims: 1) Provide psychosocial resources for high school (8 students, 4 juniors and 4 seniors) and undergraduate students (12 students, 3 at each level freshmen through seniors) engaged in continuous academic year and summer cancer research experiences to ensure development of SI and SE by leveraging the cancer research and support resources at our Partnership institutions. Development of SE and SI will be accomplished by providing opportunities for laboratory research and communities of practice (CoP) and a series of workshops based in SCCT. 2) Recruit and support a diverse population of graduate students (2 MPH/3 PhD students each year) who will evolve, strengthen and maintain a strong SI and SE as they engage in cancer research with the ultimate goal of enhancing the diversity of the cancer research workforce. SCCT-based workshops and resources targeted at the evolution and maintenance of SE and SI in our graduate students will be implemented. 3) Provide educational research opportunities, workshops and CoP to medical students (4 students each year at MMC/4 at VU) to ensure successful evolution, strengthening and maintenance of their SI and SE and to sustain their interest in clinical population sciences and translational cancer research with a focus on disparities.