The goal of the Harvard Cancer Prevention Education and Career Development Program is to train pre-and post-doctoral fellows for research careers in cancer prevention and control. This well-established training program brings together the extensive expertise and broad array of research opportunities of the Harvard School of Public Health, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and other participating institutions in the Dana- Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. This Program is designed to create a cadre of researchers in cancer prevention and control who will be knowledgeable about the current state of the science of cancer prevention;expert in a specialized research area in which they will be positioned to generate new knowledge to advance cancer prevention;skilled in formulating and writing research proposals;sufficiently well anchored in professional networks that they can monitor future developments in cancer prevention and translate their knowledge into research;and skilled in transdisciplinary approaches to research in cancer prevention and control. During our 14-year track record we have trained 77 trainees, including 39 pre-doctoral fellows, 20 postdoctoral fellows earning a further degree, and 18 post-doctoral fellows focused on mentored research. 38 of these fellows now work in academic settings, and an additional 21 are involved in cancer prevention research in other settings. This training program has been successful in recruiting and training fellows from underrepresented groups, who have comprised 31.1% of the fellows we have trained to date. In this competing renewal application, each year we propose to fund five pre-doctoral fellowships, three post-doctoral fellowships focused on mentored research, and one post-doctoral fellowship for physicians earning a degree. Core requirements include the specialized curriculum, including both required core courses and tailored course components;required seminar series and workshops;mentored research;preparation of a grant application;and an individualized training plan. Pre-doctoral fellows and physician post-doctoral fellows attaining an MPH must meet requirements for their degrees. With mentoring from primary and secondary mentors selected from 30 faculty, fellows are able to participate in cutting-edge cancer prevention research. Guided by expertise from an actively-engaged Internal Advisory Board and in consultation with a External Advisory Board, this competing renewal builds on our substantial track record by adding three program enhancements: (1) a core focus on preparation of trainees for research in emerging priorities in cancer prevention and control research, primarily focused on research on cancer disparities and dissemination research;(2) an explicit plan for an increased focus on transdisciplinary training;and (3) improved integration with DF/HCC efforts to expand recruitment of underrepresented fellows. Expanding on our existing evaluation, we will track the success of the Program overall, including these enhancements, through outcome and process evaluations.
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