The Journal of Cancer Education published the article, “Perspectives of an NCI T32 Training Program Designed to Train a Diverse Workforce in Cancer Health Equity Research,” from researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded T32 Cancer Health Equity and Career Development Program (CHECDP) and the University of Illinois Cancer Center.
The publication highlights the critical need for novel approaches to combat rising cancer health disparities in the United States, with one such approach being increased diversity in the biomedical research workforce.
The article’s conclusion is excerpted below.
“Given the well-documented cancer health disparities in the U.S., cancer health equity training programs are uniquely positioned to improve equity in cancer outcomes. The CHECDP provides a unique approach by focusing on the development of training a diverse workforce. The training of the CHECDP is focused on curriculum-based education, mentored research training and career and leadership development. The CHECDP represents a replicable model to increase diversity in predoctoral and postdoctoral cancer health equity training.”
All publication authors are affiliated with the Cancer Center. They include Marian Fitzgibbon, PhD, co-Director of CHECDP and Cancer Center Associate Director for Population Sciences; Caryn Peterson, PhD, MS, co-Director of CHECDP, Research Associate Professor in the UIC School of Public Health, and Cancer Center Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) Research Program member; Lisa Tussing-Humphreys, PhD, MS, RD, co-leader of the Cancer Center CPC Research Program and Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition at the UIC College of Applied Health Sciences; Ifeanyi Beverly Chukwudozie, MPH, MBA, Director of the Cancer Center Office of Cancer Research Training and Education Coordination (CRTEC); Margaret Wright, PhD, Cancer Center Senior Research Scientist; Andrew McLeod, PhD, MS, RD, Postdoctoral Fellow and a Cancer Center trainee; and corresponding author Mackenzie Ferguson, MPH, CHECDP Coordinator, who also works with Fitzgibbon on various projects and events through the Cancer Center, the UIC Institute for Health Policy Research (IHRP) and the Department of Pediatrics, where Fitzgibbon is a Professor.