Cancer is the 2nd major cause of human mortality in the US. It is our view that an interdisciplinary graduate curriculum with a focus on the biology of cancer that interfaces with clinicians engaged in cancer diagnosis and treatment provides an excellent means of training specialists with a sufficient breadth of perspective for successful careers in cancer research, education, clinical care or policy. This is an application for renewal of a T32 training grant, currently in its 35th year, to support 6 pre-doctoral students in Cancer Biology at Wayne State University (WSU) and the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute (KCI). Trainees include PhD and MD/PhD candidates primarily from the Cancer Biology Graduate Program (CBGP) in the Department of Oncology, along with a smaller number of trainees from other affiliated PhD programs at WSU. Training draws from the outstanding clinical and research facilities at WSU/KCI and the expertise of 20 accomplished preceptors in areas including neoplastic development, invasion and metastasis, cancer drug discovery, cancer immunology, and population studies and cancer disparities. This T32 training grant provides an important cornerstone of our training program in the biology of cancer at WSU/KCI. The CBGP offers specialized didactic training in basic and translational principles of Cancer Biology, along with seminars by nationally/internationally recognized speakers, student-faculty research retreats, and opportunities to attend national/international research conferences. PhD students are introduced to state-of-the-art research methods in molecular and cell biology, chemical biology, pharmacology, immunology, and epidemiology, and to cutting-edge technologies through the KCI research cores, while performing hypothesis-based cancer research. Students “round” with oncologists in the KCI Cancer Hospital and receive didactic training on clinical research by academic physicians who lead our clinical trials. Training in the responsible conduct of research, rigorous experimental design and data science is provided. “Value added” educational opportunities for T32 fellows include a workshop on F30/F31 fellowship preparation, a T32 research mini-symposium, enhanced career networking, specialized technology workshops and research conferences, training in community outreach, and individualized career mentoring. The goals of our T32 training program are to develop scientists with a strong foundational training and perspective in Cancer Biology, with outstanding capacities for critical thinking, effective communication and networking skills needed for professional success in the coming decades. Reflecting our emphasis at KCI/WSU on reducing cancer disparities, an additional goal of our training program is to encourage workforce diversity by educating trainees from diverse backgrounds. As documented in this application, T32 CA009531 has trained an accomplished group of cancer biologists, including underrepresented minorities, ...