ABSTRACT – LEADERSHIP, PLANNING, AND EVALUATION The O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center (O’Neal) at the University Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) was one of the first eight Comprehensive Cancer Centers designated by the NCI in 1972. The State of Alabama is the catchment area for the O’Neal, and the population of Alabama has significant cancer burdens and disparities. O’Neal has a long and distinguished history of health disparities research and of implementing the findings of this research to reduce the cancer burdens in Alabama. In addition, there have been significant accomplishments in taking O’Neal basic science forward to develop novel prevention, diagnostic, and therapeutic agents. The UAB campus spans 100 city blocks that hold its 12 schools. This contiguous layout provides important opportunities for O’Neal to engage expertise at schools not normally focused on the cancer mission. In January 2020, Dr. Barry Sleckman became the fifth Director of O’Neal. The arrival of Sleckman CBI brought many new important initiatives and changes. A five-year Strategic Plan was initiated that included over 200 participants, including faculty from most UAB Schools, community stakeholders, UAB Health System leadership, trainees, and administration. The strategic planning process was focused on identifying areas of institutional strength that could be coalesced into thematic multidisciplinary teams aimed at reducing the cancer burden and disparities in our catchment area. This process identified six thematic areas of research focus for the next five years; 1) Obesity and Metabolism in Cancer; 2) Cancer Immunology; 3) Cancer Imaging; 4) Target Identification and Therapeutic Development; 5) Cancer Prevention and Early Detection; and 6) Mitigating Morbidity of Cancer and its Treatment. Sleckman CBI also restructured the Senior Leadership team, adding two new key Associate Directors and establishing seven committees focused on important missions of O’Neal. These committees, which meet regularly, are all chaired by members of senior leadership and include program leaders and O’Neal members. The committees provide for real-time two-way communication between program members and Senior Leadership around issues that are critical for advancing our strategic goals. Sleckman CBI also made improving O’Neal clinical trial processes a top priority, facilitating therapeutic trials to open more rapidly, and allowing for more cancer patients to be accrued to therapeutic clinical trials. These important changes were brought about by the findings of a Clinical Trials Task Force, the appointment of an Associate Director for Clinical Research, and the formation of the Clinical Research Oversight Committee. Together they have already brought about significant increases in our accrual to therapeutic trials. The new leadership structure and committees put into place by Sleckman CBI will provide important real-time communication connections between Senior Leadership, O’Neal members, and ...