Academic Training in Cancer Prevention and Control

The Center for Cancer Prevention and Control Research (CPCR) is the hub of scholarly training related to cancer prevention and control at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Activities include full-length university courses, seminar series, and formal training programs. Participants range from undergraduates, to masters and doctoral students, with an emphasis on post-doctoral scholars.

Courses delivered include: Tobacco: Prevention, Use, and Public Policy (M233); Issues in Cancer Prevention and Control (M411); Obesity, Physical Activity and Nutrition (M234)

Blended Pre- and Post-Doctoral Training Programs

These include the Cancer Epidemiology Training Program (NCI T32) and the Career Development Program in Cancer Prevention and Control Research (NCI R25T).

The Cancer Epidemiology Training Program emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach by providing training in both epidemiology methodology and molecular genetic aspects of cancer. Trainees gain experience in both cancer epidemiology methods and molecular biology laboratory skills. This allows students to utilize the knowledge of epidemiology methods and molecular biology to elucidate genetic predisposition and susceptibility on the risk of cancer, to study effects of environmental exposures on cancer risk, to describe the natural history of cancer among highrisk individuals with inherited genetic mutations, and to evaluate potential gene-environment and gene-gene interactions on the risk of cancer. This interdisciplinary training is useful in identifying etiologic factors, mechanism of carcinogenesis, and establishing effective cancer prevention and control strategies. The program provides students with the skills needed to apply molecular genetic epidemiology knowledge to chemoprevention trials and to apply new high-throughput technologies, such as DNA microarray genechips, SNP identification and genotyping, gene expression profiling, and proteomics, to epidemiological studies. Special efforts are made to recruit qualified candidates from underrepresented minority groups.

The Career Development Program in Cancer Prevention and Control Research (NCI R25T) seeks to address the critical need for highly-trained cancer control investigators who can help fight—and win—the war on cancer in the 21st century. The Program offers qualified doctorally-trained candidates, in various stages in their career development, a strong foundation for a successful career in population-based cancer control research. The goal of the program is to prepare outstanding researchers to fully participate within the multidisciplinary and interactive framework that is increasingly the hallmark of cancer control research.

The program provides a strong foundation for a successful career in population-based cancer control research through a rigorous, tailored program of coursework, in-depth hands-on research and active participation in workshops and symposia. Fellows hold advanced degrees from a variety of fields, bringing diverse experience and research interests to the program. The fellowship is structured to ensure formation of a strong, cohesive cohort among these disciplinary and ethnically diverse participants, encouraging collaboration and sharing of perspectives. Program fellows are guided by an outstanding nationally and internationally-recognized faculty that reflect the diverse disciplines involved in cancer control research. The program is situated in the Center for Cancer Prevention and Control Research (CPCR) and the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.

Funded by the National Cancer Institute for fifteen years, the program is scheduled to end by 2016 because the NIH has discontinued this funding mechanism.