Leadership, Planning, and Evaluation Summary The Masonic Cancer Center (MCC) will build on its strong leadership and processes developed in the current funding cycle to further strengthen its basic, translational, and clinical Research Programs and apply them to meeting the needs of our catchment population and beyond. The MCC Director, Dr. Douglas Yee, and the Deputy Director, Dr. Jeffrey Miller, will continue in their roles. In the past 5 years, several other leadership positions have been modified or added to meet the changing needs of the MCC. A new Associate Director position has been created to provide oversight of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and leadership as the MCC implements its plan to enhance participation of women, minorities, and underrepresented groups in the Center’s workforce and leadership. The Associate Director for Basic Sciences now oversees the Basic Shared Resources, and the Associate Director for Clinical Affairs is now the Associate Director for Clinical Research, overseeing all clinical research functions of the Center, including the Clinical Trials Office and other clinical research resources. New recruits have filled the positions of Associate Directors of Administration, Basic Sciences, Clinical Research, Community Outreach and Engagement, Education, and Translational Research. Since the last competitive renewal, MCC undertook an extensive strategic planning process, which culminated in the release of a refreshed 5-year Strategic Plan in 2022 driven by 3 elements central to the mission and vision of the Center: 1) Engage in the research strengths of MCC research members, 2) Enhance integration of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion across the center, 3) Proactively develop and retain the next generation of new leadership, faculty and staff, 4) Incorporate catchment and care provider input into MCC activities. The overall goal was to ensure that these elements of the Center’s mission and vision are embedded throughout the Plan. Therefore, governance structures, evaluation metrics, and associated resources were revised to align with each area of the Plan. As a result of this process, 4 strategic pillars and areas for a cascading strategic plan were formulated based on a combination of stakeholder interviews, comprehensive reviews of previous strategic plans, ecosystem partner objectives, an inventory of current state activities, and future state objectives. Those 4 pillars are: Reduce the Cancer Burden in Minnesota and beyond, Drive Research Discovery, Accelerate the Path to Cures, and Enable Research Excellence. MCC will continue to receive input from its External Advisory Board annually and will leverage institutional leadership and engage key stakeholders in support of the Center’s Aims to 1) Guide cancer research at the University of Minnesota, 2) Provide vision and oversight for the MCC Strategic Plan, and 3) Evaluate progress and adjust our efforts accordingly to achieve the mission, vision, and goals of M...