Opportunities 

For all or multiple cancers

• Scientist – Survivor Program (American Association for Cancer Research)
• Patient Advocacy Program at the ASCO Annual Meeting
• Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs
• GRASP: Guiding Researchers and Advocates to Scientific Partnerships
• Research Advocacy at NCI
• NCI Office of Advocacy Relations (National Cancer Institute)
• Physical Sciences Oncology Program (National Cancer Institute)
• FORCE Research Advocate Program (Hereditary Cancers)  FORCE – Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered
• Stand Up to Cancer
• Patient Engagement at the US Food and Drug Administration

For specific cancers

• Project LEAD (National Breast Cancer Coalition)
• Alamo Breast Cancer Symposium Advocate Program
• Susan G. Komen Advocates in Science (breast cancer)
• Young Survival Coalition (breast cancer in young women)
• Theresa’s Research Foundation (Metastatic Breast Cancer)
• Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance
• Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance
• Fight Colorectal Cancers 
• STARS (International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer)
• Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation 

Programs associated with specific hospitals

• Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Breast Cancer Advocate Program
• Georgetown Breast Cancer Advocates
• Cancer Research Advocacy Group (Cancer Center at Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
• Community Scientist Program (MD Anderson Cancer Center)
• Huntsman Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Research Advocates 
• Johns Hopkins Breast Cancer Research Advocates
• Karamos Cancer Advocacy Program
• Breast & Gynecologic Cancers Research Advocate Committee (Huntsman Cancer Institute)
• Cancer Community Partnership (National Cancer Institute)
• PIVOT – Patient and Investigator Voices Organizing Together (University of Kansas Cancer Center)
  • https://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/advisory/ncra/0622/Krebill.pdf
• University of North Carolina  Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Oregon Health and Science University Knight Cancer Center Research Advocates
• Breast Cancer Research Advocacy Network (University of Pittsburgh Hillman Cancer Center)
• UCSF Breast Science Advocacy Core
• University of Illinois at Chicago Cancer Center  (Email sasep@uic.edu for more information)
• Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center
• Breast Cancer Research Advocacy Network (University of Wisconsin)

Training Resources about Cancer Research Advocacy

• Definition of a research advocate (National Cancer Institute)
• RAN – Research Advocacy Network and the Advocate Institute
• Cancer Information and Support Network (CISN)
• Patient Advocacy Resource Guide (SWOG)
• Framework for Patient Engagement in Cancer Network Group Studies Five self-paced training modules, focused on engaging advocates in clinical trials. SWOG Cancer Research Network (SWOG)
• Improving Diversity and Representativeness of Clinical Trial Participants (SWOG)
• Patient Involvement Toolkit for Researchers (Cancer Research UK)
• Friends of Cancer Research

Resources Related to Translational Research and Industry

• Toolkit for Patient-Focused Therapy Development (National Center for Advancing Translational Science)

Training Resources about Patient Engagement (Not Specific to Cancer)

• The Patients Professors Academy (U. of Maryand School of Pharmacy)
• Citizen Science Curriculum (University of Florida)
• Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)
• Cochrane Consumer Network
• Rising Tide Foundation: Patient Engagement in Research
• Patient-Led Research Scorecards (A PCORI-funded project)

Popular Articles about Research Advocacy

• How Patient Advocates Help Cancer Research
  A video interview with Patty Spears (Cancer.Net)
• The Evolving Role of Patient Advocacy
  Marci Landsmann (Cancer Today, AACR)
• So you want to serve on a scientific review panel?
  Bob Riter, Monica Vakiner, and Carole Baas (Cancer Today, AACR)
• Advice from Advocates: How to Navigate the Annual Meeting
  Bob Riter and Carole Baas (Cancer Today, AACR)

Academic Articles about Research Advocacy 

• Patient Engagement in Cancer Research from the Patient Perspective
  Patricia A. Spears (Future Oncology)
• Cancer Research Advocacy: Past, Present and Future
  Jane Perlmutter, Shannan K. Bell, and Gwen Darian (Cancer Research)
• The Current Landscape of Research Advocacy and Education for Patients with Colorectal Cancer
  Reese M. Garcia, Andrea J. Dwyer, Sharyn Worrall, Keavy McAbee, Anjelica Q. Davis (Lower Gastrointestinal Cancers)
• Transforming research: engaging patient advocates at all stages of cancer research
  AnneMarie Ciccarella, Alicia C. Staley, and Aime T. Franco (Annals of Translational Medicine)
• Patient Advocacy in Research: Merely an Afterthought?
  Musa Mayer (The Patient: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research)
• Promoting Scientist–Advocate Collaborations in Cancer Research: Why and How
  Jeannine M. Salamone, Wanda Lucas, Shelley B. Brundage, Jamie N. Holloway, Sherri M. Stahl, Nora E. Carbine, Margery London, Naomi Greenwood, Rosa Goyes, Deborah Charles Chisholm, Erin Price, Roberta Carlin, Susan Winarsky, Kirsten B. Baker, Julia Maues and Ayesha N. Shajahan-Haq (Cancer Research)
• How have patient advocates in the United States benefited cancer research?
  Deborah Collyar, (Nature Reviews Cancer)
• Connecting Students with Patients and Survivors to Enhance Cancer Research Training
  Robert Riter and Robert Weiss (Cancer Research)
• Improving the Odds Together: a framework for breast cancer research scientists to include patient advocates in their research
  Hillary Stires,  Igor Bado, Thelma Brown,  et al. npj Breast Cancer
• Patient Advocates and Researchers as Partners in Cancer Research: A Winning Combination 
  Laura D. Porter, Karyn A. Goodman, Josh Mailman, and Wendy S. Garrett, American Society of Clinical Oncology Educational Book 2023 :43
• Roadmap to engagement: Bringing patient partners into cancer research and beyond
  Kimminau, K., Jernigan, C., Krebill, H., Douglas, S., Peltzer, J., Hamilton-Reeves, J., . . . Jensen, R. (2023). Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 7(1), E178

Presentations about Research Advocacy

• Advocacy: The Patient Voice in Cancer Research
  A presentation by Carole Baas to Community-based cancer research presentations and discussions (BIOMS 5665) at Cornell University
• Cancer Research Advocacy
  A presentation by Jane Perlmutter to the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network
• Connecting Researchers and Patients: Practical First Steps
  A presentation by Bob Riter to the 3rd Novel Methodologies in Health Disparities Research Symposium

Background and Context for Understanding Cancer Research

• Landmarks in Cancer Research (AACR)
• Milestones in Cancer Research and Discovery (NCI)
• Cancer Progress Timeline (ASCO)
• A history of cancer therapy (Scientific America and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)
• The history of cancer (American Cancer Society)
• Timeline of cancer treatment development (Wikipedia)

Please send suggestions for additional resources to Bob Riter at RNR45@cornell.edu.