Education-Outreach Unit

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Summary Central to the Moffitt-PSOC 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 clinical observations, 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 PSOC investigators, will be comprised of students, postdocs, and faculty members with different scientific 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. The Moffitt-PSOC will allocate funding to enable competitive renewals of promising pilot projects to enable collection of preliminary data for successful extramural funding applications. Participation from Consortium centers is encouraged to foster close collaborations between PSOC 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 quantitative sciences 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. The Moffitt Outreach core introduces novel programs to present physical sciences in oncology to the general public. PSOC public evening lectures, as well as participation in and support of the annual Pint of Science festival in Tampa Bay, will introduce interdisciplinary cancer research in layman terms and will offer opportunities for the local community to engage in a direct science 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.