Career E Core

The Career Enhancement Core (CEC) is essential for meeting the Center for Social Capital (SoCa) mission of reducing cancer incidence in persistent poverty areas (PPAs). The SoCa CEC will implement a multipronged approach to support early stage investigators entry, retention, and progression into conducting cancer health

disparities research among the most impoverished populations. To this end, we develop the SoCa Method which we define as the development of a sustainable infrastructure for a social network where the established norms of the network produce the expectation of entry, retention, and progression of investigators in cancer health

disparities, advancing the individual and the collective goals of the community. To this end, the CEC will leverage existing programs and build needed programming, harmonizing collective efforts that activates and supports sustained movement of early stage investigators across the biomedical enterprise with the expertise needed to

serve underserved communities. The CEC will support entry by developing web-based programmatic infrastructure to identify and aid established investigators in securing diversity supplements (DSs) that will support all eligible stages of early stage investigators (from as early as high school through junior faculty support)

who are dedicated to cancer health disparities in impoverished communities (Aim1). To retain early stage investigators dedicated to serving underserved communities, we will implement a Clinical Research Coordinator Training Program for undergraduates, post baccalaureates, and master’s students that will facilitate entry into

clinical coordinator positions within persistent poverty communities (Aim 2). To progress early stage investigators, we will provide a personalized approach to team-based mentoring and training to bolster the scholars’ ability to compete effectively for external research funding, to strengthen promotional packages, and

instill cancer research in PPAs within their portfolio (Aim 3). The CEC objectives are leveraged by unparalleled resources including the outstanding training and educational programs at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), Cornell University (CU), and Downstate Health Sciences University (Downstate), as well as, available core resources including the Clinical

and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) and the affiliated Cancer Centers. The CEC will work collaboratively with the SoCa Center Cores (Research and Methods, Development, and Administrative Core), Advisory Board, and Projects to support the SoCa Center’s overall mission. The CEC will support the submission of ≥40 DSs,

clinical research coordinator training of 20 students, and personalized training of 12 SoCa Scholars across the granting period. Supported by the Core Co-Directors (Drs. Yazmin Carrasco and Jasmine McDonald), SoCa Center Faculty, and cross-institutional opportunities within and across CU, CUIMC, and Downstate - the CEC

will create sustainable and scalable infrastructures and programs that increase biomedical workforce diversity.