Outreach Core

ABSTRACT – Outreach Core The Stanford CCSB is committed to advancing and promoting systems biology approaches to cancer research. The Outreach Core will coordinate scientific outreach activities to disseminate to the cancer research and broader communities our Center’s scientific and methodological advances in applying the principles of cancer systems biology to the study of tumor-immune-stromal interactions in metastatic progression. We will work to recruit involvement of multidisciplinary investigators, including cancer biologists, data scientists and clinicians. We will also develop and implement an evaluation process to assess the effectiveness of our proposed outreach activities. The specific aims of our Outreach Core are: (1) disseminate advances in cancer systems biology to the cancer research and broader communities, (2) promote the involvement of cancer systems biology investigators, cancer biologists, and clinicians enriching our environment with opportunities for exposure and training, and (3) develop and implement an evaluation strategy to assess our outreach activities. We will disseminate our work through avenues including scientific publications, conferences, annual symposia, monthly seminar series, workshops, think tank program, and an up-to-date website. We will continue to foster a fertile environment for investigators from multiple disciplines to collaborate. Opportunities will include monthly seminars, enabling cross-training at participating consortia institutions, and encouraging attendance and abstract submission to national conferences. We will partner with local and national efforts to promote multidisciplinary perspectives in mentorship and participation in our outreach activities. We will expand our efforts to involve trainees at all points within their career progression from high school onwards. Our pilot projects will also provide additional opportunities to broaden participation across a multidisciplinary research community. Furthermore, we will develop and implement an evaluation strategy to assess our outreach activities by soliciting responses from CCSB members and non-members, and the broader community attending our events. The research experience will be evaluated through online surveys, as well as documentation of publications, abstracts, and presentations.