(Note: For a more formal description of the program, see Connecting Students with Patients and Survivors to Enhance Cancer Research Training by Riter and Weiss in Cancer Research. What follows here is a more informal and illustrated narrative with links to additional resources).

The Beginnings

The origin of the program traces back to 2012 when Bob Riter, a breast cancer survivor and then Executive Director of the Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes, reached out to Cornell University in an attempt to connect cancer patients and survivors with graduate students preparing for careers in cancer research. Bob eventually connected with Professor Robert Weiss from the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine who embraced and nurtured  this collaboration. At about the same time, Cornell’s Physical Sciences and Oncology Center, housed within the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, was looking to connect its trainees with the local cancer community. Professor Claudia Fischbach, the director of the Center, quickly joined Bob Riter and Bob Weiss in leading this town-gown partnership. The early programs, held on a monthly basis at the Cancer Resource Center in downtown Ithaca, provided an opportunity for graduate students to present cancer research in lay language to a community audience. An enduring image from those presentations is that of the bell placed on each table. If a community member didn’t understand a term or concept, he or she could ring the bell, causing the student to pause and rephrase what had just been presented. Special acknowledgment should be given to Alexandra McGregor and Pete DelNero, then PhD students in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Their enthusiasm for and engagement with the partnership played a significant role in getting it established. They published an essay about their experience titled, “From Patients to Partners” in Science Magazine.

Becoming Part of the Curriculum

As the program developed, there was a desire to formalize it and make it part of Cornell’s curriculum. A curriculum development grant from Engaged Cornell (now known as the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement), allowed that to happen and created four related courses on science communication and community engagement. One component of the curriculum was a full semester course, Community-Based Cancer Research Presentations and Discussions. This weekly class featured lay-language student presentations on cancer research and talks from professionals in a variety of cancer-related fields. Programs were held on the Cornell campus and were scheduled late in the afternoon so that community members could attend after work and find free parking. Other years, a more condensed weekend program titled Social Issues in Community Engagement by Cancer Scientists was offered on two consecutive Saturdays. In several classes, students were asked to interview a cancer patient/survivor. (Click Interviewing to download the PowerPoint slides used to prepare students). Students were allowed to choose a family member or could ask to be paired with a volunteer community member. The following word clouds capture the feelings of the students before and after the interviews.

Easy to Reproduce Ideas

• Community members can judge and award People’s Choice prizes to recognize poster presenters that describe their research in clear language and with an engaging manner.

• The Patient’s Voice panel presentation is targeted to new graduate students in the biomedical sciences and was designed to promote the program and to share the patient experience.
• A non-threatening way to connect trainees and community members is through speed dating. The community members remain stationary, and the trainees rotate from one community member to the next at the sounds of a bell. (Every 5 minutes or so). It gives the trainees the opportunity to quickly meet a variety of patients and survivors.
• One way to connect trainees and community members is to get everyone off campus to engage in an activity that’s new for everyone. Painting classes are widely available or you can do something more unusual like an excursion to an equestrian center to meet and care for horses.
• Lab tours are often the easiest activity and a good starting point. If you’ve had cancer, looking at cancer cells through a microscope can be a profound experience.
• Lay-language primers before formal lectures. If there is a a distinguished guest lecture on campus, have trainees present some background on that research at a level that’s understandable by community members.
• Cancer Research Education Days were held on one Saturday each year to share a variety of cancer research topics with the community and to give trainees an opportunity to engage with a lay audience. (Click here for photos)

• Offer seminars of mutual interest to trainees and community members. Some well-received programs have included, “The Economics of Cancer Care,” “How Research Happens,” and “Who Funds Cancer Research?”
• Guest speaking in other classes. Professors from a variety of departments invited panels of cancer patients and survivors to talk with their classes. (Medical Ethics, Medical Anthropology, Biomedical Engineering, Health Design, etc.)
• A cancer support group was started on campus under the auspices of the Cancer Resource Center which had long offered support groups in the community.

• Participating in fundraising for a local cancer organization
• Offering community programs as part of the Cancer Moonshot.

Lessons Learned

Offer activities on a regular basis. Students engage at different points in time.

Make it a big tent. Welcome patients, survivors, family members, and people who are just interested in learning about cancer. We refer to them collectively as community members.

The cost is minimal. Often the largest expense is for pizza.

Make it fun.

There are many, many ways to connect students and community members. What works in one community may not work elsewhere. Try things and see what happens!