Cancer Biology Training Program
Rationale and History
The Cancer Biology Training Program prepares Columbia University predoctoral and postdoctoral scientists for highly productive careers in laboratory-based cancer research. This is achieved by providing opportunities for direct research experience in the laboratories of established investigators at Columbia University, offering a rigorous and comprehensive didactic curriculum, and fostering an interactive environment in which trainees gain exposure to the full range of scientific disciplines involved in cancer research.
The Program was initiated in 1984 to unify and coordinate training in basic cancer research at Columbia University. During its first 16 years, the Program supported graduate students exclusively. However, in 2001 it was expanded to include training for postdoctoral scientists. Since its inception, the Training Program has been funded by a grant (T32-CA009503) from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and at the current time (year 25) it supports four predoctoral students and six postdoctoral fellows annually.
Administration
The Program Director and the Steering Committee oversee the major functions of the Training Program. The members of the Steering Committee are chosen to represent the various research foci of the Program, to ensure coordinated leadership with the HICCC, and to represent diverse areas of expertise in cancer research training.
Tom Gavaris serves as the Divisional Administrator of the Training Program.
Participating Schools, Departments, Centers and Institutes
A broad base for cancer training is achieved with the participation of faculty from various Departments, Centers and Institutes of Columbia University that have expertise in modern cancer research. The Training Program provides a framework to unite the training and research activities of these entitites in close collaboration with the two major cancer-focused organizations on campus: the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC), which is the NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center of Columbia University/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and the Institute for Cancer Genetics (ICG), a Columbia University institute dedicated to basic research in human cancer.
The predoctoral component of the Training Program also benefits from its association with the Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the various degree-granting programs within the Graduate School. Students in the medical science MD/PhD Training Program also pursue their dissertation research by joining one of the basic science PhD programs. Seven of these PhD programs currently participate in the Cancer Biology Training Program: Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, Biological Sciences, Cell Biology & Pathobiology, Genetics & Development, Microbiology, Nutrition, and the Integrated Program in Cellular, Molecular & Biophysical Studies.
The Cancer Biology Training Program maintains a close alliance with "Cancer Epidemiology/Biostatistics/Environmental Health," a long-standing NCI-supported program (5T32-CA009529-19) that prepares Columbia University predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees for careers in cancer-related public health. The trainee pools, faculty, and research areas served by the Cancer Biology and Cancer Epidemiology/Biostatistics/Environmental Health programs are quite distinct. However, the trainees of both programs gain exposure to the full spectrum of cancer-related research activities through a coordinated didactic curriculum and shared programmatic activities