Cancer Prevention, Control, and Survivorship Research Training Program - PROJECT SUMMARY The incidence of cancer is projected to increase 45 percent by the year 2030 and the number of cancer survivors in the United States is significantly increasing and is projected to reach 26 million by the year 2040. Given the high burden of cancer, there is a pressing need to train the next generation of researchers in cancer prevention, control and survivorship. This training program will provide a structured scientific training environment, equipping researchers to develop, test, and translate cancer prevention, control and survivorship interventions into communities. Our program is uniquely positioned to equip cancer researchers with advanced training in cutting- edge assessment, intervention science, and engagement strategies so that they can apply these to pressing problems in cancer prevention, control, and survivorship. We propose to accomplish this by offering exposure and selective immersion into a range of expertise, bringing together fundamental principles of cancer biology, epidemiology, and clinical oncology with innovative patient-centered measurement methods, intervention targets and applications, implementation science, and community engagement strategies. Trainees will learn to develop, optimize, evaluate, and implement theoretically based behavioral interventions, including technology-supported treatments, to prevent and reduce cancer risk behaviors, promote screening, and foster optimal survivorship and quality of life. They will be trained to improve the measurement, analysis, and interpretation of quality of life and other patient-reported outcomes and to contextualize this knowledge for subgroups and communities. Program graduates will emerge with the foundational knowledge base and skills needed to strengthen our understanding of cancer risk and survivorship, improve risk behaviors and symptoms management, and develop targeted and tailored interventions that prevent cancer or promote survivorship. Our specific aims include the following training goals: 1) Recruit 10 exceptional and promising trainees over the next five years; 2) Integrate basic training in cancer medicine with advanced training in theories regarding the initiation, maintenance, and treatment of risk behaviors, optimizing patient and survivor quality of life, measurement and intervention science, and community outreach; 3) Mentor the next generation of investigators who can integrate health, behavioral and social science with knowledge of clinical oncology and information technology to ensure that scientific advances are translated rapidly to improve the prevention and control of cancers; 4) Promote the oncology workforce development through outreach efforts to recruit a nationally representative group of scientists; 5) Personalize fellow training through a planful mentoring program and careful development of Individual Development Plans (IDPs) that guide trainee participation and establish trainee output metrics; 6) Evaluate the fellowship program using a continuous process improvement cycle approach (review, evaluate, act) and external review. These aims will equip T32 trainees to comprehensively address the prevention, control, and survivorship of cancer.
