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Membership and Benefits

Our members have a demonstrated commitment to cancer research and clinical care and bring diverse expertise to transdisciplinary research, education, and clinical programs. They are from the University, ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Health Network, as well as partners in our region.

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¶¶Òõ̽̽ (¶¶Òõ̽̽) Cancer Center is a matrix cancer center representing a partnership between ¶¶Òõ̽̽, the Larner College of Medicine and ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Medical Center.

Members of ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Cancer Center participate in at least one of the research programs, which include Cancer Population Science, Cancer Host and Environment, and Cancer Cell. 

Members interested in clinical care and translational science have the opportunity to join one or more disease-focused trans-disciplinary teams where clinicians, physician-investigators, and scientists collaborate to deliver world-class care to our patient population.

Members are evaluated and appointed by University of Vermont Cancer Center Leadership and assigned membership in one of six categories: full member, associate member, clinical member, core clinical member, affiliate member and trainee member.  See below for complete descriptions of member categories.

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Apply for Membership

Members of ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Cancer Center participate in at least one of the research programs, which include Cancer Population Science, Cancer Host and Environment, and Cancer Cell.

Membership Criteria

Membership Criteria

To be eligible for ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC membership, the applicant must maintain an appointment as full or part time faculty at ¶¶Òõ̽̽ or maintain a Clinical or Research appointment/employment at one of the affiliated partners of ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC. Membership category is determined as follows.

Membership Categories

Full Member

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The applicant must meet one or more of the following criteria:

  • Be the Principal Investigator (PI), Multiple PI (MPI), or Project Director (PD) on NCI-approved peer- reviewed program-eligible awards or individual component of a multi-project award (e.g., R01, R21, R03, P01, U01, DOD, ACS, AICR, etc.)*. Peer-review is defined by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) but generally includes all federal organizations and large non-profits. For the list see link at bottom of this document.* Grants must include a clearly defined cancer focus.
  • Be PI of an investigator initiated interventional clinical trial 
  • Serve in a leadership role in ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC (i.e. Senior Leadership Committee) 
  • Director of a ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC shared resource 
  • Serve as site PI for an NCI cooperative group (i.e. Alliance, NRG) 

Full members have the following benefits:

  • Eligibility to compete for ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC Developmental Funds and pilot projects
  • Eligible for $10,000 annually to pay for services from specific shared resources
  • Eligible to contribute to strategic planning initiatives
  • Association with a ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC Research Program
  • Invitation to scientific retreats, seminars and special programs
  • Personal profile inclusion on the ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC website
  • For junior investigators, access to ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC cancer research career development and mentoring programs
  • High impact publication costs covered (impact factor > 10) up to $2,000 per publication
  • Outside honorarium costs covered for external grant review up to $500 per submission

Full members commit to:

  • Actively participate in at least one ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC research program or in the ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC clinical cancer enterprise
  • Develop Inter- and intra-programmatic research collaborations leading to publications and funding proposals
  • Provide annual updates of cancer-focused funding, publications, accruals, and leadership roles (nationally & institutionally) for ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC progress reports and presentations to the External Advisory Board and/or NCI 
  • Acknowledge the use of ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC shared resources, salary support, and/or research development awards in publications and provide associated PMCID to document compliance with NIH policy (when appropriate)

Associate Member

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The applicant must meet two or more of the following criteria:

  • Have cancer-related co-publications in peer-reviewed journals
  • Provide a significant and independent clinical, translational, or basic science cancer-focused research contribution
  • Co-investigator on peer-reviewed, cancer-focused grant
  • Be in the first 3 years of a faculty appointment with a cancer-focused research program
  • Play a key role in a national cooperative group (i.e. National committee, national PI for trial)
  • Current awardee of a ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Cancer Center pilot grant or ACS Institutional Research Grant (IRG)

Associate members have the following benefits:

  • Eligibility to compete for ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC Developmental Funds and pilot projects
  • Eligible for $10,000 annually to pay for services from specific shared resources
  • Eligible to contribute to strategic planning initiatives
  • Association with a ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC Research Program
  • Invitation to scientific retreats, seminars and special programs
  • Personal profile inclusion on the ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC website
  • For junior investigators, access to ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC cancer research career development and mentoring programs
  • High impact publication costs covered (impact factor > 10) up to $2,000 per publication
  • Outside honorarium costs covered for external grant review up to $500 per submission

Associate members commit to:

  • Actively participate in at least one ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC research program or in the ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC clinical cancer enterprise
  • Develop Inter- and intra-programmatic research collaborations leading to publications and funding proposals
  • Provide annual updates of cancer-focused funding, publications, accruals, and leadership roles (nationally & institutionally) for ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC progress reports and presentations to the External Advisory Board and/or NCI 
  • Acknowledge the use of ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC shared resources, salary support, and/or research development awards in publications and provide associated PMCID to document compliance with NIH policy (when appropriate)

Core Clinical Member

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The applicant meets criteria for clinical member with the following additional criteria:

  • Serves the cancer program in a clinical leadership role such as transdisciplinary team (TDT) leader, coordinator for Commission on Cancer (COC) certification, cancer quality officer, etc. 
  • Core clinical members are described as key contributors in the NCI cancer center support grant but are not programmatically aligned. 

Core Clinical members have the following benefits

  • Eligibility to compete for ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC Developmental Funds and pilot projects
  • Eligibility for subsidized use of ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC supported shared resources
  • Eligible to contribute to strategic planning initiatives
  • Invitation to scientific retreats, seminars and special programs
  • Personal profile inclusion on the ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC website
  • For junior investigators, access to ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC cancer research career development and mentoring programs 

Core Clinical members commit to:

  • Actively participate in the ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC clinical cancer enterprise
  • Develop Inter- and intra-programmatic research collaborations leading to publications and funding proposals
  • Provide annual updates of cancer-focused funding, publications, accruals, and leadership roles (nationally & institutionally) for ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC progress reports and presentations to the External Advisory Board and/or NCI 
  • Acknowledge the use of ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC shared resources, salary support, and/or research development awards in publications and provide associated PMCID to document compliance with NIH policy (when appropriate)

Clinical Member

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The applicant must meet one of the following criteria:

  • Cancer clinician who is actively engaged in clinical research as site PI for an NCI cooperative group study, industry-sponsored study, cancer clinical trial from another cancer center or directs some form of cancer research program 
  • Cancer clinician involved in the care of cancer patients actively engaged in enrolling patients to clinical trials or participating with other ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC researchers in translational research projects

Clinical members have the following benefits:

  • Access to ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC shared resources for cancer-focused projects, with priority access for the ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC Clinical Trials Office and statistics shared resource 
  • Invitation to scientific retreats, seminars and special programs
  • Listed on the ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC website
  • Eligible to compete for clinically focused ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC pilot awards
  • For junior investigators, access to ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC cancer research career development and mentoring program

All clinical members commit to:

  • Provide annual updates of cancer-focused funding, publications, accruals, and leadership roles (nationally & institutionally) for ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC progress reports and presentations to the External Advisory Board and/or NCI

Affiliate Member

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Affiliate Members are faculty members engaged in non-cancer-focused research, and staff who support cancer related research, who wish to participate in ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC scientific and educational programs and who have interest in developing collaborations with ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC members.

Affiliate members have the following benefits:

  • Invitation to Cancer Center sponsored scientific seminars, conferences, and special programs

Trainee Member

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Trainee members are graduate students, medical students, and post-doctoral clinical or research fellows who are engaged in or interested in cancer-focused research activities.

Trainee members have the following benefits:

  • Invitation to scientific retreats, seminars, conferences, and special programs, especially those focused on training and career development
  • Access to and assistance by ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC coordinated mentoring activities
  • Eligible for travel awards to present a poster or talk
  • Eligible for summer fellowship opportunity
  • Invitations to grant writing workshops
  • Invitations to poster sessions with printing costs covered
  • Eligible to apply to be a Juckett scholar

Learn more about the trainee program.

Internal Processes

Application Process

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Faculty employed by ¶¶Òõ̽̽ or affiliated institutions apply for ¶¶Òõ̽̽CC membership using the appropriate membership application form ( or ). 

A Membership Committee comprised all Associate Directors will review the application and make a recommendation for program affiliation and specific membership category. This recommendation is then provided to the program leader(s) of the identified program for input. If the program leader(s) is/are in agreement, they will provide a recommendation for membership to the Cancer Center Director who will officially confer membership. The Associate Director for Administration or the Director will provide this notification to the applicant.

Notification Process and Document Updates

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The ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Cancer Center Administrator emails the Administrative Assistant to notify new members. An email specific to the correct membership level is sent notifying the members of their acceptance, the membership level, and program association. The Directors, Program Leaders, Administrator and Communications staff are copied on this email. New members are added to the ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Cancer Center website and receive all ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Cancer Center communications. They are also given access to a cancer qualifying subsidy for Shared Resource usage and opportunities for intramural funding. The Administrative Assistant updates web page with member information, the member spreadsheet, and email listservs.

Ongoing Evaluation of Membership

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Review of all Cancer Center membership processes and member standing will be performed annually by the Membership Committee and may result in continuation, termination or change in membership category. Program leaders shall review program full and associate membership a minimum of twice per year and notify the membership committee of any recommended changes in membership status. Continuous membership is contingent on continued pursuit of cancer-related, peer-reviewed research and/or cancer-related research and clinical activities.

Membership Benefits

Grant Resources

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Grant Incentive Programs

The ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Cancer Center's grant incentive program provides enhanced support for individuals obtaining R01-equivalent awards and grants from the National Cancer Institute.   

Grant Incentive Program #1: R01 program – Eligible investigators with an R01-equivalent, cancer relevant, peer-reviewed grant will be eligible for $10,000 to be utilized to support research activities.  Awards will be distributed at the start of each fiscal year.  Funds may not be used for PI salary support.

Grant Incentive Program #2: NCI program – Investigators who obtain a new award from the NCI will be eligible for $5,000 to be utilized to support research activities.  Funds may not be used for PI salary support.  Competitive renewals will count as new awards.  Annual renewals, NCE and subcontracts excluded (unless investigator is listed as multiple PI (MPI) for the overall award).

More details about our grant incentive programs.

Grant Resources

  • Up to a $500 honorarium for outside review of NIH, DOD, or other peer-reviewed grants priors to submission.
  • Grant writer support for NIH/DOD submissions
  • Manuscript editing support

Shared Resources

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  • Cancer Center support of Biostatistics SR facilitates access for Cancer Center members for protocol and grant development
  • Availability of Clinical Trials Office for clinical trials support and management
  • For full and associate members: "Cancer Crypto Currency" 
    • $10,000 annually from the ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Cancer Center to pay for services from shared resources: genomics, microscopy, flow cytometry, proteomics, organoid
    • Crypto currency can be used for a single shared resource or across multiple shared resources

More information about shared resources. 

High Impact Publication Initiative (HIPI)

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Publication in a journal with an impact factor ≥ 10:

  • Cancer Center provides up to $2,000 to:
    • Cover publication costs
    • Cover travel costs for the PI or co-author to attend scientific meeting
  • Members can utilize this program up to 2 times per calendar year
  • Must be utilized within 12 months of the publication date

Pilot Awards

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  • Opportunity to compete for Cancer Center seed (pilot) grant awards
  • Opportunity to compete for career development grants (e.g. Clinical Investigator Development Initiative) 

More information about intramural funding opportunities. 

Conferences, Research, and Visiting Faculty

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  • Cancer Center events (retreats, seminars, invited lectures, etc)
  • Program meetings and learning opportunities
  • Program leaders have an annual budget to cover travel and honorarium

Communications Support

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  • Support with public dissemination of research findings
  • Profile hosted on the ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Cancer Center website

Membership Application Forms

Kate Webster headshot

Questions? Please contact:

Kate Webster, Administrative Director

¶¶Òõ̽̽ Cancer Center

Kate.Webster@med.uvm.edu

(802) 656-2137