Psychologists Can Help Reduce Suffering and Death from Cancer
Erika A. Waters, Yvonne Hunt, Genevieve F. Dunton
The National Cancer Institute's Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program (CPFP) is a multidisciplinary postdoctoral program that trains the next generation of leaders in cancer prevention and control. Many factors distinguish this program from traditional postdoctoral fellowships. First, fellows receive formal training in public health by pursuing a fully-funded Master of Public Health (MPH). Why would a psychologist with a newly-minted PhD choose to spend another year in graduate school? In a word, flexibility. The MPH provides the necessary quantitative training and methodological vocabulary to communicate effectively in multidisciplinary public health settings, and enhances marketability in a challenging job market.
The centerpiece of the CPFP is mentored research. Many postdoctoral programs employ this model, but few rival the CPFP in terms of access to networks of leaders who are actively involved in shaping the research priorities of their fields. In addition to working with a primary mentor to develop a program of independent research, fellows are encouraged to collaborate with other investigators inside and outside of NCI. These relationships can open doors and provide excellent vehicles for developing a professional network. According to Erika Waters, "I asked my mentor to help me develop a professional network. What resulted was a series of invitations to workshops with leading psychology and cancer control researchers and meetings of investigators who had won multi-million dollar grants. I doubt I would have had such an opportunity anywhere else."
Psychology postdocs at NCI also have unparalleled access to research opportunities. The Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities focuses on the differential burden of cancer among racially and ethnically diverse and underserved populations. NCI also supports research in areas such as health promotion, tobacco control, health communication and informatics, and basic behavioral and biobehavioral science. Yvonne Hunt remarks, "At every turn, there is another opportunity to take my research in new directions. Depending on the day, I might be helping to design a national web-assisted tobacco intervention, working with geographers to create GIS models of tobacco control impacts, or collaborating with a linguist to deconstruct cancer survivors' narratives."
CPFP fellows also enjoy considerable autonomy in directing their research activities. They develop their own projects and can decline projects that fall outside the scope of their research agenda. This results in a cohesive and competitive program of research that accurately reflects a fellow's interests.
Fellows also benefit from seminars and workshops on grant-writing and career development. Working at NCI offers the rare opportunity to learn successful grant-writing strategies directly from program directors (scientists who guide grant applicants through the application process) and scientific review officers (scientists who oversee the grant review study sections). Genevieve Dunton attributes her success in securing a prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Active Living Research grant to her postdoctoral experiences: "The CPFP gave me an inside look at the grant review and management process. I learned how funding announcements are developed and communicated, and getting feedback on my grant ideas directly from program directors was particularly helpful."
In the CPFP, psychologists learn to think outside the psychology box. Fellows represent many disciplines; recent examples include psychology, medicine, physics, epidemiology, linguistics, and molecular biology. By interacting with one another, fellows learn to view the cancer problem from multiple perspectives and to explore research questions they might have never imagined. In a funding environment that is increasingly focused on multidisciplinary collaborations, early exposure to the languages and methodologies of multiple disciplines is an incredible advantage.
Like any program, the CPFP has disadvantages. It's difficult to "go back to school" so soon after completing a PhD. And, although fellows enjoy access to numerous large-scale datasets, primary data collection is difficult. Nevertheless, the CPFP's benefits far outweigh its drawbacks. In addition to the benefits already mentioned, the program has an extremely competitive salary and benefits package, and an annual travel allowance. The Director, David Nelson, has studied health communication and understands the concerns of psychologists who conduct research at a biomedical institution. Finally, because fellows enter the program each year as a cohort, they enjoy a ready-made support system for their postdoctoral journey.
If you would like to use your degree to help reduce the nation's cancer burden, please consider applying to the Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program. The deadline for applications is September 1. For more information or to apply, visit http://www3.cancer.gov/prevention/pob/.
About the Authors:
Erika Waters holds a PhD in social psychology from Rutgers University and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. She is a member of the Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch in the Behavioral Research Program (BRP) in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS). Erika's research focuses on risk perception and risk communication in the context of medical decision making and health behaviors. She is entering her fourth year of the fellowship and is in the latter stages of the job search.
Yvonne Hunt holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago and an MPH from Johns Hopkins. She completed a clinical fellowship in Addictive Behaviors at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Yvonne is a member of the Tobacco Control Research Branch, BRP, DCCPS. Her research focuses on understanding the change processes associated with movement along the continuum of tobacco use, from initiation, to dependence, to cessation. Yvonne is entering her third year of the fellowship and is looking forward to continued participation in training opportunities that support her development as a junior cancer prevention investigator.
Genevieve Dunton holds a PhD in health psychology from the University of California, Irvine and an MPH from the University of Southern California. She was a member of the Health Promotion Research Branch, BRP, DCCPS until January 2009. She is now an Assistant Professor of Research in the Department of Preventive Medicine in the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. Genevieve's research examines how policy, community, neighborhood, and school contexts can influence physical activity and dietary behaviors either directly, or through their impact on more proximal social and psychological factors.