Summer Program for Academic Research in Cancer (SPARC)

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The objective of the proposed Summer Program for Academic Research in Cancer (SPARC) at the Indiana University Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center (IUSCCC) is to provide cancer research career pathways for undergraduate and medical students. This objective will be achieved by providing mentored, high-quality, cancer- focused research experiences along with didactic and professional development workshops to undergraduate and first year medical students to prepare them for cancer-related fields. Twenty-five trainees (15 undergraduate and 10 first-year medical students) will be recruited every year to spend 10 weeks performing cancer research and attend didactic and professional development workshops, clinical shadowing with physician-scientist mentors in case of medical student trainees, and networking events. SPARC is open to any eligible student across the country with a residential option for some, but we anticipate the majority of undergraduate students to come from major universities in Indiana including Indiana University, University of Indianapolis, Indiana State University, Purdue University, and the University of Notre Dame, whereas medical students are likely to be from IU School of Medicine, the only allopathic medical school in Indiana, and potentially from Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine. While undergraduate trainees will potentially become graduate students in the new translational cancer biology PhD program, medical trainees can become part of our recently established Scholarly Concentration in Cancer Biology Research and Practice. Sixty five IUSCCC investigators with previous history of productive mentoring of undergraduate and medical students during summers and active extramurally funded research programs will serve as mentors. Project trainees will gain enhanced laboratory and research skills, including appreciation of the cancer research enterprise and patient care, understanding of career opportunities, and a long-term academic relationship with mentors. Didactic lectures include basic cancer biology, immuno-oncology, and precision therapy, and professional workshops include career opportunities, communicating science, manuscript writing, and tumor board to round out the summer experience. An administrative structure consisting of a principal investigator with administrative and mentoring experience, co- investigators with program implementation, mentoring, and program evaluation experience, and a program manager with recruitment and community outreach experience has been established along with program assessment/refinement by internal and external advisors. A virtual summer research experience in cancer, which we designed and implemented in 2020, will be implemented in years where public health emergencies preclude hands-on training. SPARC continues the success of IUSCCC in administering summer research programs for the past 20 years and expands the scope to fulfill the mission of the IUSCCC to educate students from a diverse educational spectrum who will become ambassadors for cancer knowledge and research in their communities and eventually become biomedical professionals who help in reducing cancer burden.