DoD Prostate Cancer Collaborative Undergraduate HBCU Student Summer Training Program Award

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The PCRP Collaborative Undergraduate HBCU1 Student Summer Training Program Award (STPA) mechanism was first offered in FY04. Since then, 58 STPA applications have been received, and 36 have been recommended for funding. The STPA supports the training of the next generation of prostate cancer researchers. This award funds new or existing summer training programs in prostate cancer research for undergraduate students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) at host institutions with ongoing prostate cancer research. Training programs are highly encouraged to include, among the projects proposed, exposure to and/or experiences in prostate cancer health disparity research. This award also requires the Program Director [designated as the Principal Investigator (PI)], who should be an established prostate cancer researcher at the host institution, to collaborate with faculty advisors from the undergraduate trainees’ HBCU. Applicants must enroll a minimum of four undergraduate HBCU trainees per year, who may be recruited from multiple HBCU. The PI’s institution, which may also be an HBCU, must have a record of achievement in prostate cancer research and in research training. When the PI’s institution is an HBCU, the undergraduate trainees must be recruited from different HBCU. A goal of this award is to establish or strengthen collaborations between the PI’s institution and the undergraduate trainees’ HBCU, which will foster the recruitment of talented trainees from the HBCU to the PI’s institutional prostate cancer training program. It is expected that these awards will provide educational and training opportunities for undergraduate HBCU students at an important decision-making point in their careers. Applications for this award should address the following key aspects for the proposed prostate cancer training program: • The qualifications of the PI and other program faculty and staff who will serve as collaborating mentors, including their track records in training undergraduate students; • The proposed training program for the undergraduate HBCU trainees at the PI’s institution, including research projects, seminars/symposia, coursework, etc.; 1For purposes of this program announcement, the term “HBCU” is used to indicate a single institution or multiple institutions. • The plans for recruitment of undergraduate HBCU trainees and for continued interaction of the PI with the trainees beyond the summer internship period; • The qualifications and roles of the faculty advisor(s) at the trainees’ HBCU, who will be responsible for working with the PI to coordinate trainee activities during both the summer training program and throughout the corresponding academic year. In addition, proposed training programs are expected to address at least one of the PCRP focus areas and are highly encouraged to address one of the PCRP overarching challenges. Trainees must spend 8 to 12 weeks during the summer participating in the program at the PI’s institution. The trainees in this program can be named or designated “to be named” (TBN) at the time of application submission; however, the criteria for selection of the trainees at the HBCU must be described in detail within the application’s project narrative. Although a single individual must be clearly designated as the PI, it is expected that the application will name and describe the qualifications of multiple mentors. The mentor(s) must show a commitment to the undergraduate trainees’ HBCU through a plan to provide additional mentoring opportunities to participating trainees at the institution beyond the summer internship period. All investigators applying to FY13 PCRP funding opportunities are encouraged to consider leveraging resources available through the PCRP-funded Prostate Cancer Biorepository Network (PCBN) (http://www.prostatebiorepository.org) and/or the North Carolina - Louisiana Prostate Cancer Project (PCaP) (http://www.ncla-pcap.org) if retrospectively collected human anatomical substances or correlated data are relevant to the proposed studies. The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) intends that data and research resources generated under awards funded by this Program Announcement/Funding Opportunity be made available to the research community (which includes both scientific and consumer advocacy communities) and to the public at large. For additional guidance, refer to the General Application Instructions, Appendix 4, Section K.

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