DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Cancer Control Research Training Curriculum (CCRTC) will provide MD and Ph.D. post doctoral trainees with the tools and experience to establish careers as outstanding independent investigators in cancer control and prevention research and to compete successfully for research funding. The CCRTC specialized core curriculum is a two year program organized around three broad areas of cancer control research where fifteen cancer control mentors from nine medical center departments share a common research focus and often collaborate on investigator-initiated, funded research in addition to their individual RO-1 grants. Each of three initial trainees (and two/yr, thereafter) will take required lectures, core courses, and seminars in research focus areas of: Patient-Oriented Research, Biostatistics and Informatics Research and Health Outcomes Research. Completion will lead to either a Master of Public Health degree with a specialization in Clinical Investigation or a Master of Science degree with a specialization in Medical Statistics. A coordinated Series of special seminars, workshops and other required didactic experiences such as mini-sabbaticals and networking opportunities will extend the training and education of each trainee and address their specific research and professional needs as determined by them, the Principal Investigator and the CCRTC Advisory Committee. Each trainee will be guided by two University of Rochester based mentors with expertise in Cancer Control as well as a third off-site mentor actively involved in NCI supported multicenter studies. By taking advantage of opportunities provided by the peer-reviewed funding of each mentor as well as the NCI-funded Community Clinical Oncology Program Research Base directed by the PI, trainees will have the opportunity to engage in transdisciplinary mentored research projects locally and/or in multiple institutions. Candidates will be recruited nationwide for the two-year program using an array of approaches to attract highly qualified scientists committed to careers in cancer control clinical investigation. A rigorous evaluation plan will closely track the performance of each trainee and assess the program's success in preparing its graduates for careers in cancer control intervention research.