1/2: UHCOP-DLDCCC alliance: Cancer drug discovery/development and education

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! PROJECT SUMMARY (CREP) The overall goal of the collaborative cancer research education program (CREP) between University of Houston (UH) and the NCI-designated Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center (DLDCCC) at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is to encourage and prepare underrepresented (UR) undergraduate and graduate students to enter careers in cancer research. We propose to provide cancer research experiences, develop new cancer-specific curricula, and create educational outreach efforts to UR students through independent, yet complementary aims. While the overall P20 collaboration will be between UH College of Pharmacy (UHCOP) and DLDCCC, the collaborative CREP will engage undergraduate students at UH and graduate students conducting cancer research at UH and BCM. First, we will enhance the cancer research experience of undergraduate and graduate students. This will be done by (1) providing UH undergraduate students with research experience in the area of cancer drug discovery and development at both UH and DLDCCC, (2) providing access to core research facilities in a cross-institutional manner and by shared membership of thesis committee to augment the research capabilities and exposure of the graduate students at UH and DLDCCC, and (3) utilizing myNRMN and mentoring modules developed by National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) for research mentors to effectively address cultural diversity matters in research mentoring relationships. Second, we will develop new cancer research curricula and methods for undergraduate and graduate students. Here, we will develop a multi-disciplinary seminar series on cancer research to expose UH undergraduate students to multiple areas of cancer research and a new joint course on “emerging technologies in cancer drug discovery/development” that will significantly contribute to the existing curriculum of graduate students at both UH and DLDCCC/BCM. Third, we will prepare culturally diverse health disparity aware cancer researchers. This will be done by enhancing access of UR students to mentoring and career development activities such as a newly created “Lunch with Cancer Researchers” series featuring other UR cancer researchers in various stages of their career, a GRE prep course for undergraduates, and professional development workshop on grant/fellowship development for graduate students. To increase awareness of cancer health disparities, we will also launch a new seminar series on cancer health disparities at DLDCCC and provide community outreach opportunities for CREP participants through engagement in Theater Outreach Program organized by the Office out Outreach and Health Disparity at DLDCCC. In summary, our collaborative CREP will establish the critical infrastructure needed to support a long-term sustained effort for increasing the pipeline of UR trainees in cancer research and also to bolster submission of future training grants at institution level and fellowship/career development grants at the trainee level.