Abstract B29: Training cancer researchers that are community advocates

Introduction: Eleven years ago, Moffitt Cancer Center developed Project LINK (Leaders In New Knowledge), a program that created mentoring relationships between established researchers and high school and college level students. The success of this program in aiding underrepresented minorities through the pipeline to careers in cancer research has lead to the establishment of LINK-ET (Emerging Technologies), an undergraduate training program in clinical proteomics that also exposes the students in health-related community education and outreach projects. Methods: The foundations of LINK-ET are mentorship, teamwork, and collaboration. The students received 4 months of intensive training with lectures and laboratory assignments in proteomics, an emerging technology that combines protein separations, mass spectrometry, and bioinformatics for protein characterization. Each student then transitioned into different labs to learn cancer biology for continuing implementation of proteomics addressing biological and clinical research questions. This provides a supportive and collaborative environment whereby the students receive mentoring by expert scientists. Students also attend research group meetings, Proteomics Journal Club, special lectures, and monthly Project LINK meetings. This gives them an opportunity to participate in professional and scientific career development with guest speakers and career counselors. In addition, the four LINK-ET participants (2 juniors and 2 seniors) also volunteer with community events and other educational activities organized by the Tampa Bay Community Cancer Network, a community based participatory project that establishes partnerships between MCC researchers and local organizations that share a common goal of impacting health disparities. Results: The students constantly express how Project LINK-ET has provided them with intensive hands-on research activities and strengthened their basic science skills. During the training they provided written lab reports detailing their understanding of sample preparation, instrumentation, and data analysis in proteomics. Each student will present research at a national conference and co-author educational articles describing the training activities as well as manuscripts that will be submitted to peer reviewed journals. The impact of the community education and outreach has strengthened their commitment to cancer research. Conclusions: This training program, LINK-ET, has combined elements of undergraduate training in science using classroom techniques and lab partnering. Also, the combination with education in health disparities and involvement with community outreach is inspiring the students to be more involved and keeps them attuned to the specific needs of different communities. This integrative program has strengths that motivate the students to continue their development in cancer research related careers. ∗This presenting postdoctoral fellow is supported by an ARRA supplement to the NCI Cancer Center Support Grant awarded to Moffitt (3P30 CA076292-11S6 PI WS Dalton) to create a training program for underrepresented undergraduate students in clinical proteomics Project LINK (Leaders In New Knowledge -Emerging Technologies) that also emphasizes education in health disparities and community outreach. Citation Information: Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2010;19(10 Suppl):B29.