Cancer Research Career Enhancement and Related Activities

Stoner, Julie

Abstract

CANCER RESEARCH CAREER ENHANCEMENT AND RELATED ACTIVITIES ? ABSTRACT The Stephenson Cancer Center (SCC) oversees and coordinates a wide range of education, training and career enhancement activities and programs for students and investigators at all levels, with the ultimate goal of training the next generation of successful cancer biomedical researchers and oncology health professionals for Oklahoma and the nation. These activities are overseen by Julie Stoner, PhD, the SCC Associate Director for Cancer Education and Training, and coordinated by the SCC's Education, Training and Career Enhancement Core.
The aims of this Core are to: 1) provide effective oversight, planning and coordination for SCC education, training and career enhancement activities; 2) facilitate collaborations with existing institutional education, training and career enhancement programs to extend the reach and impact of SCC activities; 3) integrate cancer education, training and career enhancement activities into the SCC's Preclinical Translational Cancer Research (PTCR), Gynecologic Cancers (GC) and Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) research programs; and 4) partner with Oklahoma's American Indian (AI) populations to develop tribally based research and training capacity to address the high cancer incidence and mortality rates among AI in the state. Dr. Stoner also chairs the SCC's Education and Faculty Development Committee (EFDC), which includes senior personnel who direct education and training programs at OUHSC and the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF), the SCC's proposed consortium partner. This committee meets quarterly to oversee and evaluate cancer-focused education, training and career enhancement activities at OUHSC and OMRF. Two priority foci for this committee are: 1) working with promising junior investigators to attain NIH individual training awards and independent funding and 2) developing approaches for the recruitment of students and trainees from underserved populations, especially the state's large AI population. The Education, Training and Career Enhancement Core helps coordinate and support SCC education and training programs through the following activities: 1) identifying, advertising and supporting opportunities for students and junior faculty to participate in seminars and workshops (local, regional and national); 2) supporting thesis and practicum projects through developmental funding: 3) tracking student and trainee outcomes; and 4) conducting educational and career enhancement needs assessments with SCC leaders, members, education program participants and community partners to identify training needs and opportunities. Priorities for the SCC include an NIH T32 application focusing on tobacco use, cancer prevention and health disparities, with a spring 2018 submission date planned.