Become a Cancer Center Member

At The University of Kansas Cancer Center, researchers, physicians, nurses and educators work together to examine cancer from numerous scientific and medical disciplines. The cancer center operates as a matrix organization that includes: the University of Kansas Medical Center campuses in Kansas City, Wichita and Salina, the University of Kansas in Lawrence and its highly ranked School of Pharmacy (per NIH funding) and The University of Kansas Health System. The Stowers Institute for Medical Research and Children’s Mercy Kansas City are NCI consortium partners. As the only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center in the region, cancer center members have access to a larger pool of funding for research, including members-only developmental funding opportunities. 

Researchers and clinicians associated with the University of Kansas and the University of Kansas Medical Center, as well as cancer center consortium partners, are eligible to be considered for cancer center membership. Individuals from all areas of cancer research, including basic, translational and clinical research, pharmaceutical sciences, population sciences and behavior and psychosocial science, are encouraged to join the cancer center member as a member. Research goals center on the following principles:

• Establish solid basic research discoveries that build on our collective knowledge of cancer’s biology, and apply these findings to advance new therapies
• Identify cancer risk factors and develop actionable cancer prevention strategies
• Create more clinical trial opportunities for patients, including underserved populations

The following membership categories and requirements were developed under the guidance of the NCI to ensure The University of Kansas Cancer Center meets the requirements of the NCI Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG).

The cancer center provides members with several centralized resources to support collaborative research and clinical trials. Membership offers access to leading-edge equipment, comprehensive biospecimen banks, patient research advocates, custom animal models and more.

• Shared resources: Provides critical assets for researchers to advance their work.
• Research programs: Cancer center members are assigned to 1 of the cancer center's programs: Cancer Biology; Cancer Prevention and Control; and Drug Discovery, Delivery and Experimental Therapeutics.
• Clinical trials office: Provides a comprehensive support network that spans the life cycle of a clinical trial from concept through final manuscript publication.
• Disease working groups: Cancer center members may participate in any of the following disease working groups: Brain, Breast, Lung, Gastrointestinal, Genitourinary, Gynecology, Head & Neck, Lymphoma/Myeloma, Leukemia/Myeloid, Melanoma, Pediatric and Sarcoma. There are also four non-disease specific working groups: Immune Effector Cell, Cancer Care Delivery and Health Equity, Early Phase Clinical Trials and Radiation Oncology. Contact Natalie Streeter at nstreeter@kumc.edu, 913-945-6596, to learn more and join a disease working group.
• Investigator Initiated Trials (IIT) Steering Committee: Provides support to principal investigators developing an IIT. Contact Tyce Bruns at tbruns@kumc.edu, 913-945-7628 to learn more.
• Cancer center seminars and symposia: Members receive an invitation to attend cancer center-sponsored programs throughout the year.
• Masonic Cancer Alliance: Outreach network that partners with cancer research, care and support professionals to advance the quality and accessibility of cancer prevention, detection, treatment and survivorship in the Heartland.
• Patient research advocates: The cancer center’s PIVOT program links scientists with patient research advocates to ensure the patient perspective is represented in their research.
• Pilot project funding: Competition for pilot funding for cancer-related research projects. Associate and affiliate members may submit pilot project applications when they exhibit clear evidence of collaboration with a full member.
• Grants Development Office: A centralized administrative research proposal resource to assist members with proposal development for cancer-related funding.
• Communications office: Provides strategic communications planning as well as development of news articles, website and social media content. The Communications office can assist with the development of brochures, web content, videos and other communications collateral to promote cancer center research to a variety of key audiences. The office also manages the cancer center’s Brand Standards and can provide templates for fliers, PowerPoint presentations, posters and logos. View our brand standards here. Contact Christine Thomas cthomas17@kumc.edu, 913-945-6017.

Member responsibilities

• Actively participate in the research programs and serve on cancer center committees.
• Develop interactions with other cancer center members as measured by joint publications, joint grants or joint research activities.
• Attend cancer center-sponsored meetings and seminars.
• Submit all clinical cancer studies to the Protocol Review and Monitoring Committee for scientific review.
• Utilize cancer center shared resources, and importantly, acknowledge use of cancer center facilities, shared resources, space or assistance (when appropriate) in research publications, presentations and grant submissions. Learn more about citing the P30 grant.
• Accrue patients to institutional clinical trials and, where appropriate, to NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) trials that are activated at the cancer center.
• Provide accurate annual and special requests for research progress, clinical trials, other support, publications and biosketch in a timely manner.

Definition of peer-reviewed research

Eligibility to apply for a CCSG award and to meet the standards for formal CCSG research programs requires specific minimum levels of “peer-reviewed, funded research projects.” View the list of peer-reviewed funding agencies here. Click “more” to view the full list. All funded, multi-year research projects from these organizations (excluding pilot projects and feasibility studies) may be counted toward the requirements noted above.

The NIH and all funding organizations listed employ: 1) a peer-review system that uses primarily external reviewers and is free of conflict-of-interest; (2) a ranking or rating system in the review process based on the scientific merit of the proposed research; and (3) a funding system based primarily on the peer review ranking or rating of the research applications.