Leadership, Planning and Evaluation

The senior leadership team embodies UCCC core values, which are to be collaborative, compassionate, exemplary, scholarly, visionary, and transformative. The leadership team strives to create an energetic and collaborative culture to enhance scientific discovery that leverages the strengths of the research community, fosters collaborations across disciplines, seeks to innovate and break barriers, and makes critical discoveries, to reduce the burden and impact of cancer in Colorado and beyond. The senior leadership team embarks on strategic planning, recruitment, stimulus for new initiatives, programmatic and member support, and extensive internal/external coordination and communication. UCCC leaders work as a cohesive team to implement priorities and achieve goals, pulling in members from partner institutions (including the Anschutz Medical Campus, the University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado State University, National Jewish Health, and various clinical affiliates) and seeking input from representatives of the catchment area. Our specific aims for leadership, planning, and evaluation are: Aim 1: Foster scientific discovery and its translational impact. We facilitate recruitment, bring scientists together across partner institutions, offer incentives through pilot funds, enhance shared resources, and support our members by exchanging ideas, building infrastructure, and removing institutional barriers. Aim 2: Continuously align UCCC activities across the partner institutions to reduce cancer incidence and improve outcomes for cancer patients. The senior leadership team achieves this through effective communication, strategic partnerships, and internal and external advisors in a continuous, iterative process of evaluation and realignment. Aim 3: Orchestrate strategic planning and its implementation through designated champions, metrics, and accountability. The leadership team is responsible for the implementation of the strategic plan, setting metrics, and holding themselves and fellow champions accountable for accomplishing goals. In addition, the team confers on adjustments to the plan are required, including re-prioritizing goals or leveraging previously unforeseen opportunities. The leadership team promotes and supports collaborative, transdisciplinary research that accelerates scientific discovery, clinical care, prevention, education, and community outreach and engagement. Ultimately, the process and leaders the UCCC has in place create a strong, robust cancer center that is continually evolving and making significant strides toward the elimination of cancer.