Outreach Core

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Summary Central to the Moffitt-CSBC Education core is an annual innovative, unique, and intense one-week interdisciplinary hands-on workshop to accelerate the training of the next generation of integrated cancer researchers. Future leaders in cancer research must be well-versed at the interface of quantitative and life sciences. The workshop uses current Center projects to teach integration of ecology, biological experiments, and mathematical modeling to decipher tumor initiation, promotion and progression and predict response to a variety of treatment modalities. Each team, led by CSBC investigators, will be comprised of students, postdocs, patients, and faculty members with different expertise. During the intense 5 day workshop each team will develop quantitative models for the specific projects, develop a set of specific aims for a pilot grant proposal and give a short presentation that will be critically evaluated by a panel of senior scientists and patient advocates. Moffitt Cancer Center has committed to funding the best grant applications with a $50K pilot project award for the next 5 years in order to facilitate project continuation. Participation from Consortium centers is encouraged to foster close collaborations between CSBC network investigators. Center students and postdoctoral fellows will participate in young investigator exchange programs and career enhancing education workshops. To spark interest in the application of ecology and systems biology in oncology early in life we will implement a variety of new internship programs ranging from high-school student research experiences to college undergraduate and graduate student internships – all with a dedicated focus in integrating minority researchers and patient perspectives. The Moffitt Outreach core introduces novel programs to present cancer systems biology to the general public. CSBC public evening lectures as well as participation in and support of the annual Festival of Science festival in the Tampa Bay area will introduce cancer systems biology research in layman terms and offers opportunities for the patient community and general public to engage in a direct dialogue with eminent researchers. Outreach and training lectures as well as developed course materials and science projects will be made available and archived on our professionally designed Center-dedicated website.