PROJECT SUMMARY: POPULATION RESEARCH AND CLINICAL TRIALS IN CANCER EQUITY (PRACTICE) SHARED RESOURCE CORE The proposed Population Research And Clinical Trials In Cancer Equity (PRACTICE) Shared Resource Core will build upon the infrastructure of the existing Clinical Trials Core (CTC) that has provided support to the Meharry/Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center/Tennessee State University Cancer Partnership (MVTCP) since its inception. While the CTC has been instrumental in bringing clinical trials to the patient base at Nashville General Hospital (NGH) at Meharry Medical College (MMC), to more completely address cancer health disparities, it is incumbent upon us to augment these efforts with studies in prevention, early detection, treatment, survivorship and palliative care in the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), served by our Partnership. Therefore, we propose to establish the PRACTICE Shared Resource Core to further benefit the NGH patient base, promote investigator-initiated research and extend the Partnership's reach to the underserved in the Nashville MSA. The MVTCP has great strength in population sciences research that will enhance the existing strength in clinical research. Examples include studies led by MMC, Tennessee State University (TSU) and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) investigators working with statewide cancer registries to recruit for etiologic studies of breast cancer, lung cancer screening trials for early detection, a tobacco control trial in the underserved, enhancing participant recruitment to cancer research and collection of biospecimens in collaboration with the Cancer Outreach Core and Translational Pathology Shared Resource Core. There is also a rich history of conducting therapeutic clinical trials with interactions between the Clinical Trials Office (CTO) at VICC and the CTO at NGH. The overarching mission of the PRACTICE Shared Resource Core is to enhance accrual to therapeutic clinical trials while expanding access for minority and underserved patients to research studies across the cancer care continuum. The PRACTICE Shared Resource Core worked extensively with Lucy Spalluto, MD in the genesis of her proposed project examining the implementation of breast cancer risk assessment in underserved women. We will assist with implementation of this study and dissemination of the results. Our Core will also support other clinical and population-based science research across the cancer care continuum. This can be broadly categorized into three thematic domains focused on decreasing cancer health disparities: 1) prevention and early detection; 2) interventional trials and observational studies during and following cancer treatment; and 3) implementation of healthcare interventions to improve cancer care delivery. The PRACTICE Shared Resource Core will address the following specific aims: 1) expand the portfolio of therapeutic clinical trials and cancer control studies relevant to the patient base of NGH at Meharry and the Nashville MSA; 2) develop a cancer cohort at NGH at Meharry to serve as a resource for future studies across the cancer care continuum; and 3) provide training and mentorship for clinical trainees in the conduct of clinical trials and in the recruitment and retention of underserved populations in research.