) Cancer incidence and mortality rates are disproportionately higher among minority populations. Efforts to improve this picture have been hampered by the lack of independently funded minority researchers who can bring the appropriate cultural perspective to research focusing on minority patients and populations. While NCI-designated cancer centers have strong research programs designed to reduce cancer incidence and mortality, few centers focus on training minority scientists and partnering with minority populations. Minority-serving institutions (MSIs) conduct high quality programs for educating minorities and have a source of talent with appropriate cultural sensitivity and perspective needed to conduct high-quality cancer research in minority populations. Thus, partnerships between NCI-designated cancer centers and MSIs have the potential to impact cancer incidence and mortality rates in these populations. This application proposes to establish the Piedmont Alliance for Cancer Research and Education (PACRE) a long-term partnership between an NCI-designated cancer center, the Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest University (CCCWFU) and an MSI, Winston-Salem State University (WSSU), in order to conduct activities needed to develop a structure to: 1) Develop strategies to facilitate career development and research training for minority investigators and trainees 2) Foster interaction and collaboration between investigators and trainees at WSSU and the CCCWFU 3) Assist CCCWFU in gaining support among and partnering with minority populations in the community 4) Foster new collaborative pilot projects and help them move forward with pilot funds for future NCI, NIH, and DOD grant applications 5) Increase grant submissions and extramural funding for minority researchers from both institutions 6) Evaluate the results of this effort for use in developing a comprehensive partnership. The activities of this planning grant will thus strengthen the collaborative partnership between the CCCWFU and WSSU. This formal partnership grant will greatly facilitate our work to reduce the burden of cancer incidence and mortality among minority populations, African-American, Hispanic and Native American, in our region. In addition, both institutions have mechanisms in place to facilitate the institutionalization of the activities achieved through this program, thus, ensuring the durability of the proposed program.
