How to Find a Summer Mentor

• One primary mentor is required. Two or more mentors are optional.
• The mentor must have a faculty or adjunct appointment at MD Anderson Cancer Center and preferably within the Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences.
• Instructors and Postdoctoral Fellows may serve as mentors, as long as they are supervised by a faculty at the Assistant Professor level or higher.
• The proposed summer research project must be related to cancer prevention.
• Faculty outside of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences may serve as mentors as long as they meet all of the aforementioned requirements and the project is related to cancer prevention.

Use one of the following search methods to locate potential summer mentors and list a minimum of six (6) choices on a separate page of the personal statement.

1)      Select from the list of participating or previous mentors, listed the Previous CPRTP Summer Mentor & Projects tab below. 

2)      Search the faculty pages of the five (5) departments within the Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences (DCPPS) listed below. Each faculty name on the department page is hyperlinked to the faculty profile which describes their research.

1. Department of Epidemiology Faculty
2. Department of Health Services Research Faculty
3. Department of Behavioral Science Faculty
4. Department of Clinical Cancer Prevention Faculty
5. Department of Health Disparities Research Faculty

3)      Using the MD Anderson Faculty Search engine at http://faculty.mdanderson.org, search by faculty name OR research keyword (e.g. colon cancer) using the Faculty Name box.  

Upon notification of award, the CPRTP will review your mentor choices and provide copies of your application to the faculty.  The faculty will review your application and determine whether they are available for an interview.

When making this determination, faculty will consider the following:

• Your previous research experience (if any)
  
• Whether your research interests are in alignment with their current projects
• Ability to work independently 
• Whether you are seeking lab experience or basic science experience
• Whether their current research is in cancer prevention
• Their current work load (e.g. upcoming grant submissions)
  
• Their summer travel schedule (e.g. upcoming conferences)
• The number of students they are currently mentoring
  
• Available space within their department

The faculty will inform us which students they are interested in interviewing.  We will provide you with an interview form, interview questions, faculty contact information, and a deadline for interview results. In most cases, you will interview the faculty's senior research scientist, lab manager, program manager, postdoctoral fellow or instructor.  These individuals work directly with the faculty mentor and will take an active role in mentoring the summer student, while managing daily activities. In these scenarios, the faculty mentor will act more as a supervisor and oversee the summer research project. In contrast, other faculty mentors will interview and subsequently work directly with the summer student.

Once we compile all interview results, we will begin matching students and contact the faculty to confirm a match.  When both you and the mentor are in consensus--a match is made.  Finally, we will have the matched mentor complete a project description form, which will be provided at CPRTP orientation during the first day of your fellowship. 

• Karen M. Basen-Engquist, Ph.D., Professor
  • Project title(s): 
    • PancFit: Multimodal exercise during preoperative therapy for pancreatic cancer: A randomized trial testing effects on fitness, health-related quality of life, and tumor vasculature 
    • Steps 2 Health: Optimizing theory-based, real-time messages to increase physical activity in cancer survivors 
    • Development and Validation of the Abbreviated Food Screen [AFS] to Assess Single Day or Within Day Energy Intake from Multiple Food Groups 
    • Feasibility of a physical activity intervention that utilizes continuous glucose monitors among overweight or obese adults without diabetes 
• Maher Karam-Hage, M.D., Professor, Keywords: Psychiatric comorbidities and impact on ability for smoking cessation 
• Irene Tami-Maury, D.M.D., Dr.P.H., Assistant Professor, Keywords: Tobacco Prevention, Smoking Cessation, Oral/Dental, Minorities, International, Project title: Cancer Prevention and Control among sexual and gender minority groups: Project TNT and Project PRIDE. Energy Balance among Cancer Survivors Active Living After Cancer Project
  
• Alexander V. Prokhorov, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Project title: Tobacco prevention and cessation interventions among youth and young adults on a local, national and international 
  

CANCER SYSTEMS IMAGING

• Pratip K. Bhattacharya, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Keywords: Hyperpolarization, Real-Time Imaging, MRI, Metabolic Imaging, Molecular Imaging, Project title: Metabolic evolution of patient-derived glioblastoma xenografts from in vivo hyperpolarized 13C MRI and ex vivo 1H NMR

• Susan Gilchrist, M.D., Associate Professor, Keywords: Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Exercise, Cancer Prevention, Cardiology, Cardio-Oncology
• Florencia McAllister, M.D., Assistant Professor, Project title: Role of Immune System in Pancreatic Tumorgenesis
  
• Guang Peng, MD., M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Project title: Define molecular consequences induced by APOBEC3 genes in breast cancer
  
• Eduardo Vilar-Sanchez, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Keywords: Colorectal cancer, Chemoprevention, Hereditary Cancer Syndromes, Adenomas, Genomics
  

• Manal M Hassan, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Project title: Gallbladder Stones and Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in multiethnic USA population
• Carrie Daniel-MacDougall, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Keywords: Diet, Obesity, Microbiome, Colorectal Cancer, Prevention
  

• Scott Kopetz, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Keywords: Colorectal Cancer, Molecular Subtypes, Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs, Chemoprevention, Translational Research, Project title: Colorectal cancer biology, translational cancer medicine

• Mala Pande, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.B.B.S., Assistant Professor, Keywords: Epidemiology, Genetics, Hereditary Cancer Syndromes, Colorectal Cancer, Predictors of Cancer Risk and Outcomes
  

• Qian Lu, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Keywords: Health Disparities, Obesity/Physical Activity, Community Engagement, Intervention Research, Project title: Understanding and Promoting HPV Vaccination Acceptability Among College Students
• Lorna Haughton McNeill, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Chair,  Keywords: Health Disparities, Obesity/Physical Activity, Community Engagement, Intervention Research
• Larkin Strong, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Keywords:  Health Disparities, Physical Activity, Community-Based Interventions, Built Environment, Mobile Health; Project title: Tu Salud Si Cuenta! Reaching Latino family dyads to increase physical activity and healthy eating

HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH

• Sharon Giordano, M.D., Professor and Chair, Keywords: Health Services Research, Breast Cancer, Survivorship, Cancer Outcomes, Project title: Breast Cancer Prevention in Rural Populations
  
• Lisa Lowenstein, Ph.D., Professor, Project title: Considering exercise options for cancer survivor
  
• Hui Zhao, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Keywords: Health Services Research, Big Data Analysis, Cancer Epidemiology, Cancer Survivorship, Cancer Prevention
  

• Joya Chandra, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Project title: Analysis of observed and questionnaire based cooking practices in families of pediatric cancer survivors
  

• Mary T. Austin, M.D., Associate Professor, Surgical Oncology, Project title: Melanoma Prevention: What does the general pediatrician need to know?