Criteria and Qualifications

Membership Qualifications

  1. Academic and/or medical qualifications:

    2. a. Faculty member of the University of Pittsburgh, or Medical staff member of the University of Pittsburgh affiliated hospitals or UPCI Community Network hospitals.

    b. Application for membership from faculty member from any other University will be presented for consideration of, and approval by, the UPCI Membership Committee.

  2. An active professional commitment to participate in cancer research, treatment, patient care, and/or education.
  3. One of the following should be applicable to each member:

    4. a. Peer-reviewed funding as a principal investigator and/or co-principal investigator on cancer relevant grants: In the event that peer-reviewed funding is lost, a two-year grace period will be provided. If at the end of the two-year period peer-reviewed funding is not obtained, then this criterion shall be deemed to have not been met.

    b. Clinical Investigator engaged in cancer care and research.

    c. Newly recruited faculty member in his/her initial period of appointment (usually three (3) years).

    d. Established faculty member who has moved into cancer research in the last three (3) years.

    e. Peer-reviewed publications relevant to cancer.

    f. Acknowledgement of UPCI membership and use of UPCI shared facilities in publications relevant to cancer.

    g. Participation on UPCI-administered program project grants, multidisciplinary program grants (e.g., SPOREs), cancer-relevant predoctoral/postdoctoral training grants, or other individual investigator-initiated funding for cancer related projects.

    h. Attendance and participation in UPCI program meetings, the UPCI Annual Scientific Retreat, and other UPCI-sponsored or UPCI-affiliated events.

    i. Acknowledgement of UPCI membership at national and international meetings through listing in brochures, or abstracts, or listings of institutional affiliations.

    j. Play a significant role in implementing clinical research and/or cancer control research studies and in presenting local and regional UPCI educational programs.

Responsibilities of Members

  1. Work with other investigators of UPCI in a collaborative manner to develop and participate in the research, education and service missions of UPCI.
  2. Actively participate in meetings and other activities of at least one UPCI program*.
  3. Serve on UPCI program and review committees if needed.
  4. Acknowledge UPCI membership in cancer-related publications and presentations and on educative program brochures.
  5. Serve as a UPCI representative in the community and at national and international meetings.
  6. Inform the Director and/or program leader of cancer-related intramural research proposals and/or extramural grant applications in which the member is, or plans to be, involved with in order to better plan and implement programs and to document the Institute's research base.

Research Areas for Membership*

Programs
Biobehavioral Medicine in Oncology Program
Biochemoprevention Program
Brain Tumor Program
Cancer and Aging Program
Cancer Epidemiology, Prevention and Control Program
Cancer Genetics Program
Cancer Immunology Program
Cancer Stem Cell Program
Cancer Virology Program
Head and Neck Cancer Program
Hematologic Malignancies Program
Lung and Thoracic Malignancies Program
Melanoma Program
Molecular and Cellular Cancer Biology Program
Molecular Therapeutics and Drug Discovery Program
Prostate Cancer Program

Research
Breast Cancer Research
GI Cancer Research
Gynecologic Oncology Research
Liver Cancer Research

Annual Review of Membership

In order to assure that UPCI programs maintain an active, well-qualified, and committed membership, the status of each of the members is reviewed annually by the appropriate program leader, who will make recommendations to the Membership Committee and the UPCI Director regarding continuation of UPCI membership. The criteria described below will be utilized for the review. While members may not meet all of the criteria in any given year, it is expected that the member will meet the majority of the criteria.