CAREER ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM (CEP): ABSTRACT The Career Enhancement Program provides a highly structured mechanism to select and mentor junior investigators interested in careers in prostate cancer research. The Career Enhancement Program (CEP) uses several mechanisms to recruit these investigators including emails, letters to department chairs and web site announcements. In addition, the Directors of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center and the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center advertise the CEP when recruiting junior investigators to their respective Institutions. CEP investigators are selected after careful review of their credentials, their proposed projects and their potential to develop an independent career in prostate cancer research. Career Enhancement investigators are clinicians or basic scientists from biomedical science departments at Northwestern University, University of Chicago and NorthShore University HealthSystem. The fact that the awardees come from a variety of departments provides a source of diversity and scientific expertise to members of the SPORE Program. The Career Enhancement Program has flexibility in terms of offering awards and the length of the award. However, there is a consistent and highly-structured process for solicitation and selection of CEP investigators and a good tracking system for monitoring their progress. The specific aims of the Career Enhancement Program are: 1. To solicit and select career enhancement investigators through a highly structured process 2. To mentor and continuously evaluate career enhancement investigators through individual meetings with mentors and bi-annual presentations at SPORE investigator meetings 3. To cultivate new faculty to embark on careers in prostate cancer research to ensure a future source of talented, diverse investigators committed to prostate cancer research. 4. To maintain the administrative structure for the Career Enhancement Program