PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT – OVERALL The Cancer Research and Education to Advance HealTh Equity (CREATE) Partnership’s overarching goals are to further increase SDSU’s cancer research capacities and expand SDSU’s and UCSD’s emphasis on cancer health disparities research. Bi-directional community engagement is also a principal feature that is integrated across every organizational component in the CREATE Partnership and is a strength that SDSU has built over the last 30 years. Additional goals include developing cancer research opportunities and pathways for undergraduate, graduate, and medical students, as well as early-stage investigators (ESIs), which will lead to a future workforce that is more diverse and reflective of the catchment-area population. To meet these overarching goals, the following Specific Aims are proposed: 1) Recruit and support diverse ESIs who have chosen an intentional career goal to become independent, cancer-focused researchers (Administrative Core and Transforming fAcuLty dEvelopmeNT for Equity [TALENT] Shared Resource); 2) Conduct catchment-area relevant research and pilot research projects aligned with identified cancer priorities for the underserved communities in the region (Research and Research Pilot Projects and Planning and Evaluation Core); 3) Expand and implement cancer, cancer disparities, and community-engaged research education with a focus on under-represented students across SDSU and UCSD undergraduate, graduate programs, and medical students (Research Education Core); and 4) Integrate community engagement into all CREATE Partnership activities (Outreach Core). To achieve these aims, the CREATE Partnership requests the initial support for two Full Research Projects and one Pilot Research Project designed to provide insight into the mechanisms (or behaviors) underlying cancer health disparities. All three projects will be jointly led by SDSU and UCSD Co-Leads; Project 2 is co-led by two under-represented researchers. The Research Projects will be integrated with the Research Education Core, providing expanded research experiences in cancer, cancer disparities, and community-engaged research to under-represented undergraduate, graduate, and medical students. A TALENT Shared Resource will foster the career development of Partnership ESIs. The Outreach Core will develop new and strengthen existing community-academic partnerships to foster cancer research, education, and tailored outreach efforts with a focus on the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based interventions that can reduce the cancer burden. The Partnership is notably bolstered by strong institutional commitment, an Administrative Core composed of investigators with demonstrated leadership and organizational capabilities, and a strong Planning and Evaluation Core guided by an external Program Steering Committee, an Internal Advisory Board, and a Community Advisory Board.

PROJECT NARRATIVE - OVERALL The purpose of this new, inter-institutional U54 application between San Diego State University (SDSU) and the University of California San Diego (UCSD) is to advance cancer health equity in underserved communities throughout the southern California border communities of San Diego and Imperial Counties. Under a new name – the Cancer Research and Education to Advance HealTh Equity (CREATE) Partnership – the overarching goals are to further increase SDSU’s cancer research capacities and expand SDSU’s and UCSD’s emphasis on cancer health disparities research. Additional goals include developing cancer research opportunities and pathways for undergraduate, graduate, and medical students as well as early-stage investigators (ESIs), which will lead to a future workforce that is more diverse and reflective of the catchment- area population.