Title: Cancer Education and Career Development Program (R25)(Reissued PAR)

Contact:

Lester S. Gorelic, Ph.D.
Cancer Training Branch
Office of Centers, Training and Resources
NCI
Telephone: (301) 496-8580
E-mail: Gorelicl@mail.nih.gov

Objective of Project:

The specialized Cancer Education Program (R25) supports the development and implementation of curriculum-dependent programs to train predoctoral and postdoctoral candidates in cancer research settings that are highly inter-disciplinary and collaborative. This Cancer Education and Career Development Program (R25) is particularly applicable to cancer prevention and control, epidemiology, nutrition, and the behavioral and population sciences; but should also be considered by other highly interdisciplinary areas of research such as imaging and molecular diagnosis that will require sustained leadership, dedicated faculty time, specialized curriculum development and implementation, interdisciplinary research environments, and more than one mentor per program participant to achieve their education and research career development objectives. Applicants whose programs cannot meet the Special Requirements stated in these guidelines should refer to the traditional National Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional Training Grant (T32) as an alternative source of support.

Description of Project:

In many developing and emerging fields of cancer research today, scientists must function within interdisciplinary teams rather than as isolated investigators or in simple collaborative settings. Preparing junior and more experienced basic research scientists and clinicians for this new type of research environment will require education and career development experiences in highly inter-disciplinary and collaborative cancer research settings that are integrated with a specialized curriculum. These education and career development experiences will have to provide wide access to multiple scientific disciplines and methodologies, involve mentors from more than one discipline, and will have to be tailored to the individual education and training needs of the investigator. Due to the likely breadth of the science involved, these experiences will frequently have to be facilitated across departments, schools, centers and institutions. This initiative is designed to solicit applications on behalf of the principal investigator by domestic, non-Federal organizations, public or private, such as medical, dental, or nursing schools or other institutions of higher education. Applications may include more than one institution to create a program through consortium agreements that include all of the disciplines, research environments and mentors needed to accomplish the proposed educational and training objectives. However, only one of the participating institutions can be the recipient of an award. More than one application may be submitted by an institution to support programs in different areas of research. Racial/ethnic minority individuals, women, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply as principal investigators. The Program Leader/Principal Investigator must be an established investigator in a field relevant to the objectives and purpose of the Program and able to provide both administrative and scientific leadership to the Program. Candidates may be at the predoctoral or postdoctoral stages of their career. They usually must be (see exception below) citizens or non-citizen nationals of the United States, or must have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence (i.e., in possession of a currently valid Alien Registration Receipt Card I-551, or other legal verification of such status). Non-citizen nationals are persons born in outlying possessions of the United States (i.e., American Samoa and Swains Island). Individuals on temporary visas are not eligible.

Unlike other NCI grants that support career development and training, this grant does allow for the training of foreign nationals, who do not have the above residency certifications, under exceptional circumstances. These exceptions would require NCI approval of individuals on a case-by-case basis and would always depend upon the special international, collaborative nature of the research areas that the training and career development Program emphasizes. Individuals not eligible for appointment to the R25 Education and Career Development Program include former principal investigators on NIH research project (R01) grants, First Awards (R29), sub-projects of Program Project (P01) or Center Grants (P50). Former principal investigators of NIH Small Grants (R03) or Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21) remain eligible. Candidates who have been supported on NIH or non-NIH career development awards are not eligible.