CANCER RESEARCH TRAINING AND EDUCATION COORDINATION: PROJECT SUMMARY Through experienced leadership, continued strategic investment, and dedicated infrastructure support, the Massey Cancer Center (MCC) has spearheaded cancer-focused education, training, and professional development at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) for over a decade. As a new formal Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) component, MCC’s Cancer Research Training and Education Coordination (CRTEC) efforts 1) attract diverse individuals to the field of oncology, from middle and high school on through progressing educational levels across an interdisciplinary spectrum of biomedical and biobehavioral professionals; 2) provide engaging, contemporary oncology education and training opportunities; and 3) equip, through effective mentoring, emerging and early-stage investigators with the skills needed for successful cancer-related research careers. Devanand Sarkar, MBBS, PhD, Associate Director for Research Training and Education, oversees the development and evaluation of MCC-driven CRTEC activities and a recently established MCC Office of CRTEC, staffed with individuals who support the growing number of programs and events. A faculty-level Research Training and Education Advisory Committee and starting in late Summer of 2022 the MCC Student and Trainee Advancing Research Council will provide input into CRTEC efforts, identifying gaps and assisting in developing innovative concepts for programming to fill them. In 2021, through customized programs and individual mentorship, MCC members supported education and career development for 344 individuals across the learner continuum. Given that MCC emphasizes diversity in the developing workforce, collectively over the project period, more than 19% of the students/trainees are from underrepresented minority (URM) populations, and 60% are female. Fueled by significant MCC investments in the current CCSG project period, the MCC enhanced and expanded cancer career enhancement activities with numerous MCC-driven initiatives, several receiving extramural funding. Selected examples include 1) converting a longstanding NCI-funded R25 to an NCI T32 training grant in Cancer Prevention and Control and Health Equity; 2) launching an innovative curriculum for the Cancer and Molecular Medicine doctoral concentration with support from an NCI R25 curriculum development award focused on clinical research methodology, incorporating community engagement into research, and cancer bioinformatics; 3) initiating an MCC Faculty Development Research Program in 2020 for junior investigators who are paired with MCC investigators and provided guided opportunities for career development awards and pilot research funding, notably from the American Cancer Society-Institutional Research Grant, which has been sustained at VCU for over 50 years; and 4) participating in a four-year NCI P20 Partnership in Addressing Cancer Health Equity award (awarded September 2021), bring...