University of Kansas Cancer Center Paul Calabresi K12 Career Development Award for Clinical Oncology

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ABSTRACT We propose to develop The University of Kansas Cancer Center (KUCC) Paul Calabresi K12 Career Development Award for Clinical Oncology (“KUCC K12 Program”), whose primary goal is to train and develop independent cancer researchers by providing didactic coursework, and research and career mentorship. The theme of the KUCC K12 Program is in clinical and translational cancer research, with a particular focus on clinical trials, which leverages the unique strengths of KUCC. KUCC is an ideal institution and provides an outstanding environment to train clinical and translational researchers because of its strengths in cancer therapeutics, diagnostics, and medical device development; a robust cancer experimental therapeutics program; KUCC Shared Resources that facilitate conduct of clinical trials and associated translational components; and patient-centered research. With no directly competing training program, the KUCC K12 Program will be the flagship cancer-specific training program for junior faculty at the institution and in the region. The KUCC K12 Program will fill a current unmet need at KUCC by providing a cancer-specific training program, and also help fill a current geographic void from a relative lack of K12 Programs in the region. The Program has 22 primary mentors and 24 secondary mentors – with extensive expertise in clinical trials, translational research, teaching and mentorship. The Program is led by Ronald Chen, MD, MPH, a distinguished clinician, clinical researcher and clinical trialist, who has extensive experience with education/mentorship and training program design and administration. Associate Program Director (Dr. Scott Weir) and Assistant PD (Dr. Lisa Harlan-Williams) bring complementary expertise in translational research, basic research, and educational program development and leadership. The Internal Advisory Board and External Advisory Board members provide significant additional experience and expertise in the development, administration and evaluation of training programs, including K12 programs. We will finalize curriculum development and recruit high-quality scholars in Year 1 of the award and start training scholars in Year 2. We propose to recruit one new scholar in Year 2 and two new scholars per year after, and each scholar’s training will be 2-3 years. Unique aspects of the KUCC K12 Program include team science training, communication skills development (both scientific communication and communication with a lay/community audience), and didactic and experiential training on patient-oriented research, including pairing each scholar with a trained patient advocate. Each scholar will also be mentored to develop a clinical trial, and a K to R Seminar will mentor each scholar to write a high-quality and submission-ready independent research proposal. There is tremendous institutional support in the forms of funding the third year of scholar training and additional funding of $15,000/year for the Program. Up to $200,000 in supplemental salary support per scholar per year will be provided by the Institution to establish parity between scholars and their clinically-oriented colleagues.