Career Enhancement Core

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The field of cancer prevention and control has grown, however, the cadre of trained and experienced researchers dedicated to cancer prevention in underserved communities grappling with persistent poverty, particularly those trained for multidisciplinary collaboration, remains too small to sufficiently advance the state of the art in cancer prevention and control. Our overall goal is to train early career investigators in the US to join a cadre of scholars who are able and purposefully lead key research efforts in multiple aspects of cancer prevention and control/population science. Such training is critical for success in research and implementation of health programs and practices in underserved settings and are not often emphasized in cancer research training or with sufficient detail in broad programs of cancer prevention and control. Long-term success in such career paths also requires skills in career navigation, resilience, and career persistence that can be fostered through formal training, mentorship by assigned mentors, and role models that will be part of the Career Enhancement Core (CEC) and throughout the proposed Center for Transformative Community Driven Research to Prevent Obesity-related Cancer. The specific aims of the Career Enhancement Core (CEC) are to (1) recruit, select, and train high-performing early career scientists for careers leading cancer prevention research in underserved communities, specifically in persistent poverty areas; (2) provide mentored research training experiences in a variety of cancer prevention disciplines; (3) develop a multidisciplinary cancer curriculum with emphasis on drivers of persistent poverty and its impact, research methods used in community settings, and career development for professionals in the field; and (4) evaluate the Program’s effectiveness and track trainees over time. The CEC takes advantage of its integration with the two Research Projects (Brighter Bites; Active Living After Cancer) and the other Cores, including activities funded by the BeWell infrastructure. For two regionally recruited doctoral students and two nationally recruited postdoctoral fellows (one supported by the U54 award, an additional postdoctoral fellow supported by pledged institutional funds), in 3-year appointments, the Engagement Core serves to connect trainees with opportunities for experiential learning embedded within community organizations, helping them learn how to foster relationships with them. A novel aspect of the CEC is its creation of a new Community Action Workshop series to foster conducting community research and a new Grantsmanship Workshop for trainees and community organization staff to train together for synergy and fostering collaborations. The grant training will be structured and scheduled around RFAs launched by the Development Core, for which they will help teach. Leaders of the Research and Methodology Core will also provide support for instruction for the new grantsmanship workshop, as well as providing guidance and support for trainee project data collection and analysis. Trainees will build their mentored research projects around the two research projects of the center (BB and ALAC).