2/2 The University of Massachusetts, Boston - Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center U54 Comprehensive Partnership for Cancer Disparities Research

The University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston) and Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC) Partnership is primed for “Bridging the Divides: Innovations to Address Gaps in Cancer Research, Education, Outreach and Infrastructure.” Our goal is to pursue Partnership activities and research that will bridge the divides in cancer science, research education, and outreach through innovative research, training, and practice, serving as models for translation at the state and national level. The U54 partnership is a prime example of divides bridged: partnerships formed between lower resourced institutions and well-established cancer centers. We seek to exemplify this model through our Partnership activities and research.
The specific aims of the UMass Boston–DF/HCC Partnership are to 1) Advance Partnership transdisciplinary cancer research programs reflecting the theme “Bridging the Divides” by addressing critical gaps in research among population groups that are at high risk for cancer in our research studies, persistent weaknesses in cancer science research capacity, and gaps in understanding the intersection of biology and population sciences. 2) Develop educational experiences for all students and trainees in biomedical careers, providing them with a comprehensive set of research and career development experiences to super-charge the capacity for cancer research across the Partnership and integrating activities across cores and research projects. 3) Promote hiring and retention of cancer research scholars, by leveraging institutional resources and training a dedicated group of mentors for before and after hire and supporting a new network for cancer-focused postdocs at UMass Boston, DF/HCC, and other institutions in the Boston metro area. 4) Bridge research‒community divides through innovative platforms to form and engage networks of community-based organizations that will advance outreach, drawing on state-of-the-science and boldly seeking community input for all Partnership activities by engaging community members to advise the leadership. 5) Develop cutting-edge approaches to optimize population-, community-, and genomics-based cancer datasets and ensure that projects are comprehensive —through two Shared Resources Cores: Research Design and Analysis Core and Genomics Core. These will be achieved through state-of-the-art partnerships with biotech, and innovative cutting-edge methodologies that address early onset of malignancies and crosstalk with conditions such as obesity and lack of physical activity. 6) Promote sustainability of Partnership activities by reinforcing institutional support and grant matching with NIH mechanisms and other sources of government, foundation, and philanthropic support.

Grant Number: 5U54CA156732-15
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Gregory Abel