Community Scientist Program
Community Scientists refer to persons who are not formally trained as scientists but who are trained to engage in research efforts responsive to community needs. Community Scientists serve the dual roles of bringing community involvement and external expert scientific advice to research initiatives. This program will help bridge the divide and increase Lurie Cancer Center’s (LCC) transdisciplinary capacity for engaging in bidirectional linkages between Community Outreach & Engagement (COE) related activities, community stakeholders and LCC priority research programs. Community Scientists will provide different views and experiences and will help foster science teams to better articulate and frame their research with respect to a grounded and more culturally responsive approaches relevant to, and mindful of, the LCC catchment area and cancer disparities.
Thus, this project aims to develop, pilot, and evaluate a Community Scientist brigade that will spend a minimum of one year assigned to the LCC’s Basic Science, Population Science and Five (5) Disease Teams from LCC’s Clinical Trials Office (CTO) Programs. Each cohort of Community Scientists will have a unique set of deliverables based on the priorities of each program. Findings from this program will be shared with LCC’s researchers and across the larger NCI Cancer Center Consortium as a model to improve engagement of community members within catchment areas with basic and translational science teams. The proposed Community Science program will improve LCC’s basic and translational science programs through science that is better informed and focused on our catchment area and the diverse underserved populations that bear the brunt of cancer disparities.
The Metals Project
The Metals Project began in 2022 as a response to anecdotal community concerns and the Environmental Protection Agency’s documentation of disproportionate exposure to heavy metals (including mercury, lead, cadmium and arsenic) in the Chicagoland area. Neighborhoods on the South and West side of Chicago are hypothesized to have higher levels of heavy metal pollution from sources such as highways, lead pipes, and industrial waste, which negatively affect human and environmental health. Two hundred healthy volunteers were recruited at community events throughout Chicago, and participants agreed to provide buccal swabs and sociodemographic data in support of the research initiative. Analysis of the collected samples is underway by LLC bench scientists. Our team of Community Scientists have been critical to informing the design, implementation, recruitment, and dissemination activities necessary to safeguard the community centric emphasis for this project.
The Infographics Program
The infographic program focused on connecting Community Scientists and LCC scientists to develop more approachable and community-centered research material. During small group meetings between the paired Community Scientists and LCC Basic Scientist facilitated by CHET Director, Dr. Melissa Simon, LCC Basic Scientists received valuable insight from Community Scientists regarding (1) the accessibility of the language with which they explain their work and (2) the applicability and significance of their research to the communities that Community Scientists themselves serve. During these meetings, Community Scientists and LCC Basic Scientists worked together to develop concise, accessible, and relevant descriptions of LCC Scientists’ research that could be incorporated into infographics. Further group meetings focused on revising the bespoke infographics with feedback from both LCC Basic Scientists and Community Scientists. These infographics will be kept in a library and will be used by both Community Scientists and LCC Basic Scientists for outreach and community engagement efforts in the future.
We are seeking new Community Scientists!
Community Science programs are emerging as effective approaches for training community members to actively and meaningfully engage in outreach research activities. This program is aimed at increasing the bidirectional relationship between communities and LCC from the community to the bench.
The Community Scientist team will bring both community and external scientific and educational perspectives to:
- Establish operating norms of how community can truly bridge with basic and translational scientists and vice versa that will promote more collaborative basic and translational research at LCC with community and the catchment area at the center;
- Guide the community appropriateness and scientific rigor of the research questions, intervention, and evaluation approach geared toward benefiting minority communities across the LCC catchment area that bear the brunt of cancer disparities;
- Make recommendations to basic and translational scientists based on study objectives and the needs of the community, and;
- Support dissemination of researchers’ progress and findings to the broader community. The Community Scientists will be responsible for collaboratively interacting with select research scientists at the LCC. In addition to observing the conduct of research, they will promote dialogue and communication around the relevance of the research teams’ work to their communities, the LCC catchment and cancer disparities. Contributions as a Community Scientist may also include helping to develop materials for dissemination in the community that articulate research to the lay public – such as in creating infographics for each participating LCC Research team’s work. Community Scientists will also advise grant application planning and preparation from a community perspective, and support LCC seed grant programs by bringing the community perspective to the selection process.
This program has the potential to accelerate translation of LCC science from the bench to the community while also doing what many NCI comprehensive cancer centers have yet to do: bring the community back to the bench. In doing so, Community Scientist can create more informed basic and translational science research teams that produce more community relevant research that will directly impact communities that bear the brunt of cancer disparities.
Job Responsibilities:
- Serve as a member of a 2-3-person community scientist cohort.
- Attend quarterly community scientist small-group meetings with assigned Lurie Cancer Center researchers and supplement team members.
- Provide insight and feedback to Lurie Cancer Center researchers about the accessibility and relevance of their research to the Northwestern catchment area - particularly to communities most impacted by cancer disparities.
- Assist Lurie Cancer Center researchers in tailoring their research design, implementation, and dissemination efforts to better respond to true community needs.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Experienced representative of a local minority centered community organization; or
- Experienced representative of a local minority serving educational institution; or
- Experienced patient advocate; or
- Experience participating in community advocacy projects/programs.
Compensation:
- Community Scientists will be compensated at a rate of $250 per hour, with an minimum annual payment of $1000.
Interested Candidates can fill out this form by May 1st: https://forms.office.com/r/FpQNCCkgs4
