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Principal Investigator: Prajakta Adsul
Organization: UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO HEALTH SCIS CTR
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $151,204
Funding agency: National Cancer Institute
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
As a nation, we have made tremendous advances in cancer prevention and control. However, these advances
have not accrued evenly across society. New directions in population health, genetic screening and precision
medicine may hold promise to promote health equity through risk identification and disease preemption, leading
to potentially transforming cancer morbidity and mortality. To be at this cutting edge of scientific discovery and
translation, we require more, and better prepared, STEM-H (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and
health) professionals trained in cancer and health focused careers. The long-term goal of this program is to
increase the biomedical and behavioral research workforce by providing specialized and experiential curricula
that highlights team-oriented population sciences. In order to contribute to this goal, the overall objective of this
initiative is to implement a cancer research education program, “Cancer Research—Scholarship and Training
Experiences in Population Sciences” (C-STEPS). This program is designed to facilitate and support
undergraduate students in their completion of a degree in a STEM-H field and to facilitate their selection of, and
application to, graduate or professional schools, while encouraging their interests in research careers. C-STEPS,
a 10-week summer cancer research experiences program, consists of 4 integrated components: 1) inquiry-based
research seminars, 2) skills-based, student-tailored, mentored research experiences, 3) development of career
plans, and 4) team-building activities. We will recruit cohorts of 10 undergraduates nationally for participation in
C-STEPS. We will solicit applications from students intending to pursue graduate or professional education in
STEM-H disciplines. Students will participate full-time from mid-May through August, guided by faculty and
research mentors with expertise in cancer control and population sciences (i.e., cancer risk prediction and risk
reduction, cancer screening, cancer outcomes, and survivorship). C-STEPS builds on existing resources at the
University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center. Specific aims are to: 1) Provide foundational
understanding, through inquiry-based research seminars, of current and emerging innovations in cancer
prevention and control and of collaborative team science through team-building activities. 2) Provide skills-based
mentored research experiences. 3) Provide specific opportunities to implement STEM-H career planning in
collaboration with and through personalized coaching from faculty, and “peers” (UNM STEM Gateway
undergraduates and returning C-STEPS alumni in Years 2-5) and “near-peers” (graduate students, post-doctoral
fellows); including preparation of individual development plans, which foster career development. C-STEPS will
increase the number of undergraduates pursuing graduate or professional schools, and ultimately research
careers thereby addressing a national priority for well-trained STEM-H professionals in cancer and health
focused careers.
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