Building a long distance training program to enhance clinical cancer research capacity in Puerto Rico

"UHAND"-A National Cancer Institute Funded Partnership to Advance Cancer Health Equity through Scholar Training

Black and Hispanic adults are disproportionately affected by cancer incidence and mortality, and experience disparities in cancer relative to their White counterparts in the US. These groups, including women, are underrepresented among scientists in the fields of cancer, cancer disparities, and cancer care. The "UHAND" Program is a partnership between institutions (University of Houston and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center) aiming to build the capacity of underrepresented and racial/ethnic minority student "scholars" to conduct research on eliminating cancer inequities by reducing social and physical risk factors among at-risk groups. Here, we examine the outcomes of the UHAND Program's first scholar cohort (n = 1 postdoctoral fellow, n = 3 doctoral scholars, n = 6 undergraduate scholars). Data collection included baseline, mid-program, and exit surveys; program records; and monthly scholar achievement queries. From baseline to exit, scholars significantly increased their research self-efficacy (p = 0.0293). Scholars largely met goals for academic products, achieving a combined total of 65 peer-reviewed presentations and nine empirical publications. Eight scholars completed the 2-year program; one undergraduate scholar received her degree early and the postdoctoral fellow accepted a tenure-track position at another university following one year of training. Scholars highly rated UHAND's programming and their mentors' competencies in training scholars for research careers. Additionally, we discuss lessons learned that may inform future training programs.

Building Cross-Institutional Collaborative Infrastructure and Processes: Early Lessons From the Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative

BACKGROUND

Addressing cancer health disparities requires a multitiered, comprehensive approach. The Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative (ChicagoCHEC) was established as a tri-institutional partnership to advance cancer health equity through scientific discovery, education, and community engagement.

OBJECTIVES

Large-scale partnerships rarely document the challenges encountered when establishing processes and operations in the formative years of engagement. We outline selected lessons learned from the first three years of ChicagoCHEC in hopes that future collaborations may be better poised to hit the ground running and create the needed infrastructure for a strong, effective, and sustainable partnership.

LESSONS LEARNED

Unifying a diverse group of stakeholders under a shared mission is imperative. A shared governance structure, in which all individuals understand the aims of partnership and can facilitate progress, is crucial for success. Ongoing monitoring of collaborative processes should occur and attention should be given to the optimization of communications.

CONCLUSIONS

Large-scale collaborative research and education projects across institutions can be challenging, particularly when establishing a working infrastructure and aligning priorities. However, the benefit of establishing key processes in the early years of the collaborative process can lead to high-quality research output, impact, and a sustainable partnership.