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Challenges and opportunities in training cancer researchers

Nature Cancer volume 6, pages 223–225 (2025)Cite this article

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Training the next generation of cancer researchers is essential for the cancer research enterprise. However, training programs and methods to evaluate their effectiveness vary greatly across the USA and other countries. Here we discuss strategies to enhance cancer education and processes by which training may be standardized.

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Acknowledgements

We apologize to colleagues whose work we were unable to cite owing to space limitations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Brian Keith

  2. University of Kansas Cancer Center, Kansas City, KS, USA

    Danny R. Welch

  3. Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Nishtha Agarwal

  4. Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Caroline Blair

  5. University of Illinois Cancer Center, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA

    Ifeanyi Beverly Chukwudozie

  6. O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Lalita A. Shevde

  7. Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Lawrence H. Boise

  8. Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    Kerry L. Burnstein

  9. Greenbaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Toni M. Antalis

  10. Markey Cancer Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    Kathleen L. O’Connor

  11. Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), Tata Memorial Centre, Navi Mumbai, India

    Sorab N. Dalal

  12. Homi Bhabha National Institute, Anushakti Nagar, Mumbai, India

    Sorab N. Dalal

  13. Cancer Biology Training Consortium (CABTRAC) https://cabtrac.org/

    Sheridan Ellis

  14. Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Harikrishna Nakshatri

Authors
  1. Brian Keith
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  2. Danny R. Welch
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  3. Nishtha Agarwal
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  4. Caroline Blair
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  5. Ifeanyi Beverly Chukwudozie
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  6. Lalita A. Shevde
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  7. Lawrence H. Boise
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  8. Kerry L. Burnstein
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  9. Toni M. Antalis
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  10. Kathleen L. O’Connor
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  11. Sorab N. Dalal
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  12. Sheridan Ellis
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  13. Harikrishna Nakshatri
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Brian Keith or Harikrishna Nakshatri.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Keith, B., Welch, D.R., Agarwal, N. et al. Challenges and opportunities in training cancer researchers. Nat Cancer 6, 223–225 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43018-024-00872-4

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