Xavier's RCMI Cancer Research Program

在过去的十年中，路易斯安那州泽维尔大学已经开始了一项雄心勃勃的战略举措，以提高其在生物医学领域的研究竞争力。我们的长期目标是，在未来5至7年内，不仅要在全国范围内看到我们在非洲裔美国人科学，医学预科和药学学生毕业的隆起地位，而且还要在癌症研究方面的国家突出地位。自2002年以来，尽管卡特里娜飓风造成的破坏，泽维尔已经取得了重大进展，通过建立两个少数民族健康差异中心，在2002年启动，并通过在路易斯安那州癌症研究联盟的成员实现这一目标。泽维尔的研究人员已经从美国国立卫生研究院、国防部、国家癌症研究所和路易斯安那州董事会等机构获得了大量的癌症研究外部资金。为了确定下一步需要采取什么措施，以建立在上述进展的基础上，并采取泽维尔“到一个新的水平”，一个全面的RCMI规划过程进行了通过教师和工作人员的调查，焦点小组，和论坛，与各种外部顾问的协助。因此，在招聘和留住有竞争力的研究人员、生物医学研究的基础设施支持以及缺乏配备辅助人员的中央核心实验室等领域确定了竞争力的障碍和克服这些障碍的战略。为了解决这些障碍，该提案要求资助Xavier：（1）增加癌症研究人员的数量和质量，并为他们提供启动包，发布时间和指导机会; 2）通过为发展项目提供种子资金，提高现有研究人员和项目的竞争力，增加专业发展机会，并增加接触博士后助理和研究人员的机会;（3）开发三个研究仪器核心;（4）提供更完善的行政服务，确保研究支援活动能满足教职员的需要;及（5）支持选定的试验计划，以协助那些正处于竞争“风口浪尖”的研究人员。

In the past decade, Xavier University of Louisiana has embarked on an ambitious, strategic initiative to enhance its research competitiveness in biomedical fields. Our long term goal is to, in the next 5 to 7 years, be seen nationally not only for our eminence in graduating African American science, pre-med and pharmacy students, but also for national prominence in cancer research. Since 2002, in spite of the destruction rendered by Katrina, Xavier has made significant advances toward achieving this goal through the establishment of both the Center for Minority Health Disparities, launched in 2002, and through membership in the Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium. Xavier researchers have received significant external funding for cancer research from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, National Cancer Institute, and Louisiana Board of Regents, among others. To determine what next steps needed to be taken to build on the above-described progress and take Xavier "to the next level," a comprehensive RCMI planning process was carried out through faculty and staff surveys, focus groups, and forums, with the assistance of a variety of external advisors. As a result, barriers to competitiveness and strategies to overcoming them were identified in such areas as recruiting and retaining research competitive faculty, infrastructural support for biomedical research, and lack of centralized core laboratories with supporting staff. To address these barriers, this proposal requests funding to assist Xavier in: (1) increasing the number and quality of Cancer researchers and providing them with start-up packages, release time, and mentoring opportunities; 2) enhancing the competitiveness of existing research faculty and programs by providing seed funding for developmental projects, enhanced professional development opportunities and increased access to postdoctoral associates and research staff; (3) developing three research instrumentation cores; (4) offering enhanced administrative services to assure research support activities meet faculty needs, and (5) supporting selected pilot projects that will assist investigators who are at the "cusp" of becoming fully competitive.