Grace Gill
Oregon Health & Science University, OR·Education Research
A cancer center's long-term output depends not only on its laboratories but on how well it trains the people who will staff them. This project supports the coordination of cancer research training and education at the Knight Cancer Institute, carried out by its Cancer Research Career Enhancement team, whose stated goal is to prepare students, trainees, faculty, and staff for sustained and productive careers in cancer research.
- Fields
Education Research
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
cancer research training
career development
research workforce development
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2027
What they work on
- Develop and maintain education and career enhancement programs that prepare students, trainees, faculty, and staff across the full training continuum for careers in cancer research.
- Provide structured opportunities for interaction within and between the institute's research programs and shared resources, the central instrument and service facilities, so that collaboration across programs can generate new approaches to cancer diagnosis and treatment.
- Increase diversity and inclusion in the cancer research workforce through recruitment and through leadership training programs designed for individuals from under-represented groups across race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, immigration status, language proficiency, and ability.
More about the research
Rather than running a single scientific experiment, the work builds and maintains the structure through which cancer research training happens. That includes education and career enhancement programming across the full training continuum, and deliberate facilitation of contact among researchers within and between the institute's research programs and its shared resources, the centrally run instrument and service facilities that individual labs draw on. The rationale stated is that collaboration and communication among researchers across these programs is what generates new approaches to cancer diagnosis and treatment, and that intra- and inter-programmatic interaction needs organized support to occur. A second emphasis is on building a diverse workforce and preparing its members for leadership roles, with recruitment and programming focused on inclusion of individuals from under-represented groups across race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, immigration status, language proficiency, and ability; the institute reports investing $3.6 million in these career enhancement activities and $25 million toward recruiting faculty identifying with an under-represented group during the past reporting period, including leadership training programs designed for these populations. Students considering this record should note that it describes a training and coordination component rather than a bench research project.
Why it matters
Cancer centers need a steady supply of trained, well-connected researchers to translate laboratory findings into better diagnosis and treatment. By organizing education and career development and by connecting investigators across research programs and shared instrument facilities, this coordination work supports the institute's aim of serving cancer patients in its catchment area and beyond, and it may widen access to cancer research careers and leadership for people from under-represented groups.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Kerry Burnstein
University of Miami, FL·Education Research
Provide stage-specific scientific and professional development programs that advance cancer research careers for undergraduates, graduate trainees, postdoctoral associates, faculty and non-faculty healthcare professionals.
Laura Alice
New York University, NY·Medicine & Clinical Research
Oversee strategic planning for the Perlmutter Cancer Center, coordinating its basic, translational, clinical and population cancer research programs across NYU Langone Health.
Darrell Irvine
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA·Biology
Train cancer researchers from middle and high school through postdoctoral and junior faculty levels through cancer-focused courses, mentoring, conference support, seminars, retreats and pipeline programs at the Koch Institute.
The school
Oregon Health & Science University: 24 labs on PI Pages, $545M a year on research, 54 research doctorates a year.
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