Abstract A031: Leveraging the Meharry-Vanderbilt alliance to develop a faculty affiliate program to expand cross-collaborative research
Authors: Winkfield Karen M. , Jones Jessica L. , Fuqua-Meadows Virginia , Minter Freneka F. , Whitted Calandra G. , Fair Alecia M. 
Published: December 2023

Background: Academic institutions struggle to break down research silos and boost interdisciplinary collaboration. The challenge is magnified when multiple partners seek to build research collaboratives. The Meharry-Vanderbilt-Tennessee State Cancer Partnership (MVTCP) is one of the longest-standing Comprehensive Partnerships to Advance Cancer Health Equity (U54 CPACHE) in the nation and includes faculty from 4 partner institutions, including 2 historically black institutions: Meharry Medical College (MMC), Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), Vanderbilt University, and Tennessee State University. While this partnership has been extremely productive, a 2022 MVTCP strategic planning session indicated opportunities for deeper scientific discovery and community engagement. The Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance (MVA) is a 20+year collaboration between MMC and VUMC explicitly designed to advance clinical, translational and basic research focused on ending health disparities by developing and supporting mutually beneficial partnerships between academic centers and the community. A mixed-methods approach was employed to ascertain how the MVA could leverage its resources to further enhance the mission of the MVTCP. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 MVA stakeholders (2 MMC; 5 VUMC, 3 community partners) to identify opportunities to grow cross-institutional collaborations. Emerging themes were used to develop exploratory questions for faculty-centric focus groups. Focus groups with MMC and VUMC faculty were held to elicit barriers to collaboration and explore possible solutions. A faculty survey was designed and deployed among faculty from all 4 MVTCP institutions from April to December 2022. Results: Themes from semi-structured interviews included limited networking opportunities between institutions, need for greater community engagement, and lack of awareness of faculty development resources, scholarly opportunities, and research funding. Focus group participants (6 MMC; 7 VUMC) recommended solutions that included hosting networking events, newsletters to highlight research and community partners, and developing a resource repository. Faculty respondents to the survey (n=52) indicated their willingness to support cross-institutional capacity building by mentoring students (86.5%), connecting research and clinical colleagues (63.5%), and peer mentorship (57.7%). Faculty requested connections to resources and community organizations (82.7%), support for research and grant development (63.5%), and career development opportunities (50%). Conclusion: This project informed the MVA to actualize the Faculty Affiliate Program (FAP). FAP membership is open to faculty across all MVTCP institutions and has grown to over 75 members. This centralized resource hub facilitates collaborative research and fosters cross-institutional engagement. It is hoped that with support from the FAP, the MVTCP will continue to develop more robust cross-institutional collaborations and community partnerships designed to eliminate cancer disparities.

Citation Format: Karen M. Winkfield, Jessica L. Jones, Virginia Fuqua-Meadows, Freneka F. Minter, Calandra G. Whitted, Alecia M. Fair. Leveraging the Meharry-Vanderbilt alliance to develop a faculty affiliate program to expand cross-collaborative research [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 16th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2023 Sep 29-Oct 2;Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(12 Suppl):Abstract nr A031.