Career Enhancement Program

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Career Enhancement Program (CEP) is an essential component of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Prostate Cancer SPORE that serves to sustain and enhance our mission by attracting and nurturing new and talented research faculty. The CEP will continue to implement a strategy that has successfully developed clinical, basic, and population scientists for productive careers in translational prostate cancer research. The Specific Aims of the CEP are to: 1. Provide research support and collaborative expertise for junior faculty, advanced fellows, and established investigators who wish to either develop or refocus their careers on translational PC research; 2. Provide a coordinated system for mentoring faculty and advanced fellows pursuing PC research across a broad range of disciplines; and 3. Create a framework in which investigators can gain exposure to and training in aspects of translational PC research outside their areas of expertise The CEP will be coordinated between Fred Hutch (FH), the University of Washington (UW); the Prostate Centre at the Vancouver General Hospital (VGH), part of the University of British Columbia (UBC); and, Oregon Health Science University (OHSU). Our organizational structure works across sites and includes recruitment and monitoring of candidates by a career enhancement committee, educational coordination through a Conference and Education Committee, and access to more than 50 multidisciplinary investigators both within and outside the SPORE whose research interests provide relevant experience in translational prostate cancer research. The CEP educational program combines a wide spectrum of individual research opportunities, formal educational courses, and a large number of conferences and seminars in translational prostate cancer research. We plan to continue to recruit both qualified faculty members and senior research fellows who wish to expand their work in translational prostate cancer research. In addition to SPORE grant support, this program will be augmented by substantial institutional resources.