The City College of New York (CCNY)-Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Partnership for Cancer Research, Research Education, and Community Outreach is a collaboration that expands the community-engaged research, education, and outreach agenda in cancer disparities at MSK and CCNY. Additionally, it creates a training pipeline to increase the number of investigators and students from underrepresented backgrounds involved in all areas of cancer research. The Partnership has also established community networks and resources to conduct linguistically and culturally responsive outreach and research among diverse, at-risk populations.
Since its inception in 2002, the Partnership continues to establish cross-institutional research projects and implement various programs through the Research Education Core, Community Outreach and Education/Engagement Core, and Linguistic and Culturally Responsiveness Shared Resource Core.
Cross-Institutional Research
A key objective of the Partnership is to continue to develop outstanding cancer research programs, through the lens of health equity, social determinants of health, biomedical engineering, computer science, medical imaging, cancer cell biology, precision medicine, and immunology along the Translational Research Continuum (Stages T0 through T4).
The CCNY-MSK Partnership has established a robust portfolio of collaborative translational research utilizing U54 NCI funds, along with additional pre-pilot and pilot funds contributed by MSK. Each year, the Partnership provides funding to pre-pilot and pilot proposals. To date, 80 collaborative research projects have received U54 funding, and these investigators have subsequently secured over 140 grants that emerged from their U54-awarded research proposals.
Research Education Core
Our research education and training programs aim to develop and expand educational opportunities in a robust translational cancer research environment to attract, nurture, and retain students and early-stage investigators interested in cancer research, particularly those from underrepresented and low-income backgrounds.
The majority of CCNY’s students come from racially and ethnically underrepresented groups in science, with a significant proportion being socioeconomically disadvantaged. The Partnership’s training programs have evolved successfully throughout the life of our Partnership, enhancing education, providing training opportunities, and offering mentorship to high school, undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral trainees, as well as early-stage investigators.
Partnership Community Outreach, Research, and Education/ Engagement (PCORE) Core
Our community outreach and engagement programs promote access to cancer services, and to encourage and support health behaviors which reduce cancer risk and enhance the quality of life for diverse underserved communities.
Through the promotion of community collaboration, the program leverages the extensive resources of CCNY and MSK to strengthen our overall research and community education/engagement efforts. Key activities of this core include:
- Provide audience-tailored workshops on cancer risk reduction including cancer screening, healthy lifestyle choices, smoking cessation and HPV vaccination.
- Provide navigation to low-cost screenings for colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, and lung cancer.
- Support community members and researchers in conducting research to reduce cancer disparities in their communities.
Linguistic and Cultural Responsiveness Shared Resource Core
One of the Partnership’s new programming is the development of an innovative Linguistic and Cultural Responsiveness Shared Resource Core. The Linguistic and Cultural Responsiveness Shared Resource Core (LCRSRC) seeks to address the cultural and linguistic barriers faced by underserved populations in accessing cancer education, health services, and research participation, which contribute to cancer health disparities and inequities.
LCRSRC supports and consults on a wide range of research activities conducted by U54 researchers, aiding them in their efforts to meet the cultural and linguistic needs of diverse populations. We foster effective communication and collaborative exchange between investigators, patients, and community members.
LCRSRC also provides the CCNY course: Spanish for the Health Professions. This course examines language barriers in healthcare and strategies to overcome them as students improve their healthcare vocabulary and grammar in Spanish. Topics include the interpreter’s role, cultural sensitivity, and issues faced by immigrants and non-English speaking patients.
Contact Us
For more info about CCNY-MSK Partnership, please contact:
MSK Program Manager, Nicole Roberts-Eversley and CCNY Program Manager, Kelsey Schobert at [email protected]