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Partnership Training Program

The Partnership Training Program seeks to create and foster mentored clinical and research opportunities in cancer medicine, as well as career development and networking opportunities for Hispanic trainees, scientists and physicians. All Partnership opportunities are jointly offered through MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Puerto Rico.

Co-Investigators

Ilka Rios, D.M.D., M.S., dean for academic affairs, University of Puerto Rico - Medical Sciences Campus, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico

Elizabeth Travis, Ph.D., associate vice president, Women Faculty Programs; Mattie Allen Professor in Cancer Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

Specific Aims

  • Increase # of undergraduate students pursuing careers in cancer research, cancer medicine and population sciences
  • Increase # of physicians pursuing careers in cancer medicine, cancer research and population sciences
  • Recruit a minimum of 2 candidates/year to the combined M.D./Ph.D. Program who will be committed to translational cancer research 
  • Mentor, foster and develop trainees and junior faculty to become leaders in cancer and minority health disparities research (Training Pipeline) through:

                -Summer and semester programs                                                                                                                                -Targeted courses and workshops                                                                                                                               -Joint Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. Programs (GSBS)                                                                                                          -Career Development Programs

 

Opportunities

The following joint institutional opportunities are sponsored by the Partnership and reserved for trainees and junior faculty from the University of Puerto Rico:

  • Summer Research Program - Mentored basic, clinical or translational research experiences working alongside world-renowned faculty for undergraduate and medical trainees
  • STEP-UP Program - Classroom and lab-based mentored internship program offered during the summer for well-qualified science, technology and engineering undergraduate trainees
  • Mentored Cancer Research Assistantships - Mentored experiences for undergraduates or graduate trainees from the University of Puerto Rico to work with faculty on campus or at MD Anderson on cancer-related research projects
  • M.D./Ph.D. Program - Customized dual degree program for undergraduate and graduate trainees interested in an advanced degree focused on, but not limited, to cancer medicine
  • Cancer Biology Course - Week-long, intensive course offered at the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras Campus, which targets undergraduates, graduates and medical trainees interested in a career in cancer medicine.  Pre-requisites apply

To listen to interviews from both Partnership faculty and trainees, please see Faculty and Trainee Interviews.

For additional links related to the Partnership Training Program, visit the Trainees and Junior Faculty page on the Virtual Community.


© 2013 The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center