Significant progress in solving the problems posed by cancer requires the recruitment and mentoring of outstanding students, in an environment where they are exposed to the diverse fields that impact on these diseases. Despite increasing trends towards specialization, oncology training programs suffer from chronic low applicant rates. In addition, minority group representation in science, and cancer-related careers specifically, is so low as to have been labelled """"""""an empty pipeline."""""""" We propose to mentor 27 outstanding students towards careers related to cancer research, education, prevention, and care. The students will be selected from the Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Public Health, as well as select undergraduate students from the University of North Carolina system. Since minority students face very significant hurdles in locating and capitalizing on mentoring opportunities, we will select and facilitate the mentoring of 8 - 10 minority students each year. The mainstay of our program is a summer research assistantship, in which the student actively participates in a research project with one faculty mentor. The research topic and methodology will match the diversity of faculty found in the health science schools and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Each student will also participate in a seminar designed to provide a core of basic knowledge about current problems in cancer research, epidemiology, diagnosis, and therapy. Recruitment of the 8 - 10 minority students will be obtained through integration with national minority networks. We will also encourage minority faculty to serve as mentors through a minority mentoring committee. A Cancer Education Program has been in existence at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill for over 20 years. Refinement of this program has come from retrospective review. We now propose to conduct a prospective evaluation of our ability to meet the specified goals.
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