Outreach Core

OUTREACH CORE The SASCO Outreach Core will serve to promote the broad use of systems biology in cancer research beyond the University of Virginia (UVA); disseminate and increase accessibility of computational and experimental approaches developed within the SASCO Center to the cancer research enterprise; and recruit the involvement of investigators, cancer biologists, and clinicians from different scientific backgrounds to enrich the research and environment of the Center. The Outreach Core will pursue three initiatives. First, undergraduates from around the country will participate in summer research experiences in SASCO laboratories through existing outstanding summer research internship programs at the Schools of Medicine and Engineering & Applied Science. Second, we will develop a series of three 25-minute videos designed to introduce clinicians to systems concepts and approaches toward enabling stronger collaborations between clinicians and systems biologists. The videos will be piloted for effectiveness within a Clinical and Translational Science Award program that includes UVA and other health centers in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Third, the SASCO Outreach Core will enable summer scholar-in-residence positions for faculty of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to develop research projects in SASCO laboratories. The goal of this third aim is to both establish systems-based research projects at HBCUs and increase the visibility of systems approaches in their curricula. The Outreach Core synergizes with the Center by engaging individuals from different scientific backgrounds at the undergraduate to faculty levels in SASCO research themes.