Mentoring

In the UIC Cancer Education and Career Development Program, mentors play a key role in supporting fellows’ path to becoming independent cancer researchers. Each fellow is mentored by a senior investigator funded by the National Cancer Institute in an area matching the felliow’s scientific interests. With weekly one-to-one meetings, the fellow and her or his mentor develop a strong working relationship in which the fellow’s advancement of research goals, skills and experience is primary.

MENTORS’ QUALIFICATIONS

We have recruited over two dozen UIC faculty members and scientists with established research careers, experience leading or collaborating in a multidisplinary research team, and diverse interests across the cancer continuum to serve as mentors in our program. The majority of our mentors are principal investigators of active research grants funded by the National Institutes of Health R01, center, or program project grant mechanisms, or equivalent funding. In some cases, mentors are co-investigators participating in a large multidisciplinary research team or having specialized expertise. All mentors have a solid publication record and a history of dedication to the development of new investigators.

Mentors can provide fellows opportunities to engage in ongoing research projects, in which they participate as team members and pursue their own scientific questions. In this way, fellows begin to develop their own research strategies and collect data while being part of an interdisciplinary cancer research team.

Before applying to the program, candidates are encouraged to identify a potential mentor and to correspond with him or her about their professional goals.

Our mentors’ expertise spans the continuum of cancer of cancer research, including health behaviors, policy and cancer biomarkers. Their work ranges from basic science, to the study of environmental and behavioral influences on cancer, and on to intervention design testing and randomized control trials.