The Advanced Course on Cancer-Related Health Disparities Research, Mentoring, and Leadership is an NCI-funded skills development course tailored to advance essential skills for a successful career in cancer research. This unique cross-institutional collaboration is led by Indiana University's Kola Okuyemi, MD MPH, and University of Utah's Mia Hashibe, PhD, who so far have led six top-rated cohorts of the Advanced Course together since 2020. On alternating years, the in-person cohorts will be hosted either by the University of Utah Huntsman Designated Cancer Institute or the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center.
It has become increasingly difficult for junior investigators to succeed on an academic career trajectory, primarily because of the hypercompetitive funding climate. The Advanced Course on Cancer-Related Health Disparities Research, Mentoring, and Leadership courses aim to train cancer researchers - particularly junior faculty - in maintaining long-term productivity in their cancer research careers.
Seats for the fall 2024 cohort are full - Check back to apply for the 2025 cohort (dates TBD)
Applications Currently Closed - Check Back for the 2025 CoursesFall 2024 Course Details
The Advanced Course will provide innovative state-of-the-art, evidence-based career development experiences to selected participants to enhance their skills in cancer disparities research, mentoring, and leadership for successful transition to independent academic careers. The course focuses on these educational domains:
- Culturally-Specific Behavioral Interventions
- Leveraging Cancer-Related Databases
- Enhancing Mentoring Skills
- Strengthening Leadership Capacity
The next cohort will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah near the NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) for 3.5 days from Monday, September 16th 2024 - Thursday, September 19th 2024.
An NIH-Style Mock Study Section will be the last section of the course. Participants interested in getting peer reviewer training or those with eligible grant proposals that wish to receive expert feedback may participate (see requirements). All other participants will join as audience members and be allowed to ask questions about the NIH review process.
The course schedules 5 post-course webinars in the months following the in-person component to ensure continued skill development and the opportunity for participants to continue leveraging program resources: 3 of the webinars are focused on leadership and 2 focused on health disparities research.
Click here for a more detailed schedule for the fall 2024 cohort
Course DetailsParticipant Testimonials
"Participation in the course was a key component of my K08 training and really accelerated my path to research independence!! In addition to the scientific training, it provided me with an academic community and network of other early stage investigators. The academic skills and career development aspects of the course helped me to strengthen my mentor-mentee relationships and maximize the opportunity for professional growth. This course should be required for all NCI K08 trainees interested in cancer disparities research!!!"
I participated in the Utah course in Fall 2021, shortly after receiving my first R01 award. My excitement about the funding was met with some worry about all of the administrative and logistical tasks, responsibilities, and general worries that come with managing a grant as a first-time PI. The course helped me better understand how my current grant efforts could be navigated to assist in future research proposals and pursuits of funding. Course leaders also gave our cohort space to network with people doing cancer-related health disparities research. Overall, the course was invaluable and has helped me be a better PI.
"The 2022 training was invaluable in my growth as a first-time PI. The Mentor Training and Leadership sessions transformed my understanding of effective communication and mentoring. I appreciated the in-depth exploration of databases and research-focused sessions. Interactions during breakout groups significantly influenced my research perspective. Overall, this experience has amplified my confidence and preparedness for leading my lab. Thank you for this enlightening opportunity."
"The course provided me with invaluable knowledge and skills that directly enhanced my research endeavors. The interactive sessions, expert faculty, and collaborative environment fostered a rich learning experience. I highly recommend the NCI-funded training course to researchers seeking to expand their knowledge in their respective fields."
"This training offers more than just a leadership training course; it provides an inspiring community of kind-hearted, supportive, fun, and intelligent individuals committed to helping you enhance your effectiveness and achieve higher career satisfaction. During my time there, I gained extensive knowledge, forged valuable friendships, and gained a clearer vision of my career goals. I wholeheartedly recommend this course to any researchers."
Masaoki Kawasumi MD PhD
"THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ARRANGING THE MOCK STUDY SECTION AND SENDING ME THE REVIEWERS' COMMENTS!"
"I greatly appreciate the reviewers' time and advice, which tremendously helps my future grant submission. Getting the sense of a real study section and learning reviewers' viewpoints is a valuable experience for me. With the feedback from the reviewers, I will be able to strengthen my application prior to actual submission because I got real reviewers' comments in advance. In-person, intensive course was great. It enhanced networking and interactive discussions with like-minded peers who aspire to learn more about leadership and mentoring. The course content covered my favorite topics: health disparities research and databases, mentoring, leadership, grant writing, and mock study section. This is a great coverage for junior faculty members, and it was very efficient to learn all of these important topics at once. All instructors were great speakers and facilitators. This is the best course I have ever attended! Thank you very much for organizing this wonderful course!"
Meet the Utah Advanced Course Primary Investigators:
Dr. Okuyemi is Professor and Chair and the Associate Dean for Health Equity Research at Indiana University. Okuyemi is a highly respected physician-scientist in the field of family medicine, with more than 20 years of experience as an effective executive leader and researcher having previously served as the Executive Director for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. He has focused on research and training programs that improve the health of underserved populations and eliminate health disparities and inequities using community-engaged research alongside pharmacological and culturally tailored behavioral interventions. He leads several funded programs advancing healthcare services and biomedical research, and has mentored many individuals who have established independent health professional careers. He is the co-author of over 150 peer- reviewed publications.
Mia Hashibe is a Professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah, Director of Research and Practice for the Division of Public Health, a Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) investigator, and Director of Research Facilitation and Integration for the Utah Cancer Registry. She is a member of the Cancer Control and Population Sciences Program at HCI. Her areas of research include cancer epidemiology, cancer survivorship and disparities in cancer. She is the Scientific Coordinator and one of the founding members of the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology (INHANCE) Consortium. Her studies include a head and neck cancer genetics study, multicenter head and neck cancer case-control study in East Asia, a lung and head and neck cancer case-control study in Nepal, head and neck cancer risk prediction modeling, and a Rural Cancer Survivors Cohort Study in Utah.