Outreach Core

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Project Summary Crucial to the long-lasting impact of the Center for Cancer Systems Therapeutics (CaST) is a robust and inclusive Outreach effort. The community and computational infrastructure established by CaST Outreach in 2016-2022 will be leveraged as the foundation for the proposed core ForCaST (outreach For CaST) to meet the education and outreach challenges put forth by the Cancer Systems Biology Consortium (CSBC). ForCaST will expand the scope of CaST Outreach to 1) develop widely accessible containerized software environments with tutorials and case studies for CaST tools; 2) forge new partnerships with cancer researchers and clinicians; 3) cultivate the next generation of diversity-promoting scientists; 3) strengthen connections with students from groups that are underrepresented in STEM disciplines; and 4) foster systems approaches in science more generally. The overall mission of ForCaST will be realized synergistically through its Specific Aims: 1) WebCaST (Web- based CaST resources) for online containerized packages that will combine CaST publications and resources with documented and video tutorials, domain-specific case studies, and computational workflows to facilitate dissemination and adoption; 2) WebCaST-High (WebCaST for high school students) that will introduce high- school students from nine high schools in NYC, LA, and Detroit, to exploratory analysis of cancer data and computational systems biology; 3) BroadCaST (Broadly accessible CaST research) for equipping students from Brooklyn College for graduate training at Columbia and careers in biomedical sectors; 4) StudioCaST (Studio art in CaST) for the creation of Visual Language at the intersection between Science and Art to offer novel learning perspectives and to palpably translate experiences associated with a cancer diagnosis to researchers and students; and 5) CaSTanet (CaST networks for inclusion) for mentoring postdoctoral scientists to provide equitable opportunities in their future roles at academic institutions as faculty members, instructors, lab heads, mentors, and reviewers. ForCaST has already established key partnerships to support the proposed activities including 1) resource sharing with the CSBC and broader Columbia communities such as the Columbia University Cancer Research Career Enhancement Core (CRCE); 2) collaborations with Columbia University and Brooklyn College Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences (CURE); 3) partnerships with high schools through Columbia CURE and the Palazzo-Strozzi Foundation; and 4) the creation of a new CSBC working group – Navigating Cancer with Science and Art. Foundational to the success of ForCaST is a strategy of differentiated learning and formative assessment that will ensure that CaST research products and the underlying concepts and skills required to comprehend them, are shared through a variety of vehicles in order to maximize appeal to scientists, clinicians, and students.