Cancer Research Career Enhancement and Related Activities

Educating and training the next generation of leaders in cancer research is a key goal of the Wistar Cancer Center. As Wistar itself is not a degree-granting Institution, the educational mission of the Cancer Center focuses on dedicated partnerships with other institutions, matching the collaborative culture of partnership and team science that are hallmarks of the Cancer Center. Evolved over the years, the educational mission of the Cancer Center is broad in objectives and inter-institutional partnerships, running the gamut from a high school program in partnership with the School of District of Philadelphia, to an undergraduate Biomedical Technician Training (BTT) workforce development initiative in collaboration with the Community College of Philadelphia, to various graduate and post-graduate training mechanisms together with neighboring Universities. Support for Cancer Center educational activities comes mostly from peer-reviewed federal funding, currently totaling 10 awards for $1.34 million, including a long-running National Cancer Institute (NCI)- sponsored T32 training grant. During the last five years, significant investments were made to support an expansion of Cancer Center education, as codified in the 2015 Reimagining Wistar Strategic Plan. These included the recruitment of Brian Keith, Ph.D. as the new Associate Director for Education in the Cancer Center and the first-ever Dean of Biomedical Studies at Wistar, an expansive physical plant renovation to create dedicated classroom space and specific teaching laboratories, another “first” for Wistar, and extensive online content development for the BTT program. Under the same inspiring criteria of comprehensiveness, collaboration and inter-institutional partnership, the expansion of Wistar Cancer Center education during the next budget cycle of Wistar’s Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) will integrate the wide-ranging educational activities at the Cancer Center in a coherent and synergistic platform; double the size of the BTT program to create a portable, scalable workforce development and job placement program in cancer research and the life sciences in partnership with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; expand a Ph.D.-granting program in cancer biology in collaboration with neighboring University of the Sciences (USciences), currently the only one in the greater Philadelphia region, to create a stable pipeline of postgraduate trainees in cancer research; and enrich the postdoctoral experience at the Cancer Center through a broad portfolio of career and professional development tools. The planned collaborative expansion of Wistar education will fulfill a critical strategic goal of the Cancer Center in developing the cancer research workforce of the future.