The Yale Cancer Prevention and Control Training Program

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Yale Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) Training Program requests five years of support for an innovative, multi-disciplinary and translational training program at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) and Yale Cancer Center (YCC). Currently, Yale only has one T32 training grant in cancer research, and it focuses on cancer biology training for basic scientists. Given the long history of successful CPC research and training by Yale faculty, and a critical need to train outstanding CPC scientists to advance our fight against cancer, we are excited to re-establish a CPC Training Program at Yale. Our Yale CPC Training Program will leverage strength from a Pre-Doctoral Program within YSPH, and a Post-Doctoral Program within YCC that draws from many disciplines but is administratively housed within YSPH. The Yale Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) Training Program aims to educate, train and mentor pre- and post-doctoral fellows in five thematic areas critical to CPC: cancer etiology, cancer outcomes, lifestyle behavioral interventions, implementation science and community-engaged research. These five areas were selected because they are critical domains in the spectrum of CPC research, they leverage strengths of our faculty, and they will ensure that T32 trainees with diverse interests will achieve pivotal growth through the program and become leaders in novel, impactful CPC research. Fellows will also directly participate and interact with the seven YCC Research Programs and 14 YCC Disease-Aligned Research Teams, which are composed of scientists and clinicians conducting cancer research and delivering cancer care. Fellows will work with 22 Yale CPC Training Program Primary Faculty members, who collectively have expertise in our five thematic areas. The Primary Faculty members come from 13 different departments across Yale, and have trained 50 pre-doctoral and 126 post-doctoral fellows over the last ten years, with a strong majority working in cancer-related careers. The 22 Primary Faculty currently have more than a combined $25M of research funds. Our training program will include a comprehensive mentoring program, participation in active CPC research internships/rotations through the five thematic areas, a structured CPC Fellows Seminar Course, and additional integration with resources from Yale. Our program will select the most highly qualified and diverse candidates who wish to pursue a career in cancer prevention and control, and numerous procedures have been put in place to ensure the recruitment, quality mentorship, and retention of under-represented minority fellows. At the conclusion of their training, it is our goal that individuals supported by this T32 will have developed the knowledge and skills necessary to function independently, and that they will develop and carry out innovative, impactful studies filling key gaps in CPC research, potentially changing the standard of care and impacting policy. Ultimately, public health will benefit through the preparation of an exceptional cadre of investigators committed to careers in cancer prevention and control.

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Yale Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) Training Program requests five years of support for an innovative, multi-disciplinary and translational training program at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) and Yale Cancer Center (YCC). Currently, Yale only has one T32 training grant in cancer research, and it focuses on cancer biology training for basic scientists. Given the long history of successful CPC research and training by Yale faculty, and a critical need to train outstanding CPC scientists to advance our fight against cancer, we are excited to re-establish a CPC Training Program at Yale. Our Yale CPC Training Program will leverage strength from a Pre-Doctoral Program within YSPH, and a Post-Doctoral Program within YCC that draws from many disciplines but is administratively housed within YSPH. The Yale Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) Training Program aims to educate, train and mentor pre- and post-doctoral fellows in five thematic areas critical to CPC: cancer etiology, cancer outcomes, lifestyle behavioral interventions, implementation science and community-engaged research. These five areas were selected because they are critical domains in the spectrum of CPC research, they leverage strengths of our faculty, and they will ensure that T32 trainees with diverse interests will achieve pivotal growth through the program and become leaders in novel, impactful CPC research. Fellows will also directly participate and interact with the seven YCC Research Programs and 14 YCC Disease-Aligned Research Teams, which are composed of scientists and clinicians conducting cancer research and delivering cancer care. Fellows will work with 22 Yale CPC Training Program Primary Faculty members, who collectively have expertise in our five thematic areas. The Primary Faculty members come from 13 different departments across Yale, and have trained 50 pre-doctoral and 126 post-doctoral fellows over the last ten years, with a strong majority working in cancer-related careers. The 22 Primary Faculty currently have more than a combined $25M of research funds. Our training program will include a comprehensive mentoring program, participation in active CPC research internships/rotations through the five thematic areas, a structured CPC Fellows Seminar Course, and additional integration with resources from Yale. Our program will select the most highly qualified and diverse candidates who wish to pursue a career in cancer prevention and control, and numerous procedures have been put in place to ensure the recruitment, quality mentorship, and retention of under-represented minority fellows. At the conclusion of their training, it is our goal that individuals supported by this T32 will have developed the knowledge and skills necessary to function independently, and that they will develop and carry out innovative, impactful studies filling key gaps in CPC research, potentially changing the standard of care and impacting policy. Ultimately, public health will benefit through the preparation of an exceptional cadre of investigators committed to careers in cancer prevention and control.