Membership Guidelines
July 2009
Membership is open to any individual who would like to promote the mission of the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center. Our membership categories and specific criteria listed below have been created to better organize and facilitate the focus of our mission.
Research Members
Research Members of the Cancer Center must be active faculty or staff of The Baylor College of Medicine and meet one or more of the following criteria:
1. P.I.s of peer-reviewed* cancer-related research grants at the BCM or an affiliated institution that are a component of the Cancer Center's programs or COREs.
2. Active collaborators (either faculty or appropriate professionals with time commitments) named on such grants, whose active participation is required for cancer-related research.
3. Investigators whose research efforts are focused on cancer, and whose research is an essential component of one or more of the Cancer Center's programs or COREs.
4. Clinical investigators whose research efforts focus on clinical translational research. in one or more of the DLDCC programs. To be a research member Clinical Investigators must be the primary PI on at least one investigator initiated clinical trial, or the institutional PI for a national cooperative group.
The research membership category information will be used for reporting purposes for the NCI Core grant.
(*see last page for a definition of peer-reviewed research)
Clinical Investigator Members
Clinical Investigative Members should have a Baylor College of Medicine appointment and have a significant professional commitment to cancer patient care,or education and a committment to participate in clinical trials (e.g., entry of of patients into, or referral of patients to DLDCC clinical trials, or submission of clinical materials to cancer research laboratories for research or to the DLDCC HTAP for tissue banking purposes). They must be clearly committed to participate in the development of the DLDCC mission at BCM or one of the affiliated institutions.
Members
Members will include those individuals who do not meet the above criteria yet are considered to be important components of the overall effort to advance the mission of the DLDCC based on their work in or interactions with the Cancer Center. In addition, investigators at other institutions engaged in long term collaborative projects with Research Members can apply for Membership.
Honorary Members
Honorary Members will include those individuals in the community who have made significant contributions in terms of time, effort or resources to the DLDCC at Baylor College of Medicine.
Membership Privileges to All Members
• Have priority access to and/or access to subsidized fees for use of Cancer Center Shared Resource facilities and services.
• Have access to Core Grant funds, based on efforts supported by the CCSG.
• Will receive all Cancer Center publications including a newsletter, reports and will have access to additional Cancer Center information on a Center Intranet site that is not available on the world wide web site.
• Can attend conferences, seminars, and retreats sponsored by the Cancer Center at no cost.
• May receive an allocation of Cancer Center coordinated space to conduct research, education or patient care.
• Have priority access to Cancer Center controlled conference and meeting spaces.
• Have access to private Cancer Center coordinated funds for cancer research and/or patient care activities through cancer specific pilot projects, operation of shared resources or other project specific support that may be available.
Responsibilities of Membership
• Work with other members of the Cancer Center to develop and participate in research, education and clinical and service programs.
• Acknowledge Cancer Center membership in cancer-related publications and presentations.
• Notify Cancer Center Administration of cancer-related intramural proposals and/or extramural grant applications in which the member is or plans to be involved.
• Obtain approval of Cancer Center administrative offices prior to use of Cancer Center Resources.
• Provide information required for NCI Cancer Center Support Grant reporting.
• Participate in coordinated cancer related private fundraising activities and coordinate cancer related private fund raising activities with the Associate Director for Development of the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center in the Office of Institutional Advancement of BCM.
Review and Renewal of Applications
All new applicants with a research focus, should apply to join an established or developing research program of the DLDCC. Applicants may choose to participate as a secondary member in an additional program. Members whose activities do not clearly align with any existing program may apply as a non-aligned member.
All new applications with a research interests will be reviewed by the Program Leaders of that program acting on behalf of the Membership Committee, and will make a recommendation for membershp.. The program leaders consitutue the full Membership Committtee of the DLDCC. New non-Aligned membership applications will be reviewed administratively with programmatic leadership input when necessary.
All Membership recommendations will be reviewed administratively and will be sent to the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center Director for final approval. The Director has the final authority on approval, disapproval or termination of membership.
Research Members, Clinical Investigator Members are required to submit an updated curriculum vitae or NIH formatted biosketch each year.
All Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center members regardless of category will be reviewed at least every three years to determine the appropriate category of membership. The Membership Subcommittee normally conducts such reviews annually and may reassign membership categories based on current review of category criteria and member information. Members must meet all the criteria listed for new applicants in their current membership category or their membership status is subject to reassignment. All recommended changes will be forward to the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center Director for final approval.
*Definition of Peer Reviewed Research
To be considered as a "peer-reviewed" project or study, the responsible reviewing/funding agency or organization should meet the general NIH of peer-reviewed and funding. These include meeting three criteria:
1. a peer-review system which uses primarily external reviewers and is free of conflict of interest,
2. a ranking or rating system in the review process based on the scientific merit of the proposed research, and
3. a funding system based primarily one the peer-review ranking or rating of the research application
Examples of Peer-Reviewing Agencies include:
• NIH
• Food and Drug Administration
• Howard Hughes Foundation
• Cancer Research Foundation of America
• American Foundation for Aids Research
• National Office – American Cancer Society
• National Science Foundation
• Environmental Protection Agency
• American Institute for Cancer Research
• Agency for Health Care Policy Research
• Central Office of the Veterans Administration
• Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
• Army, DOD, DOE, DOA and CDC cancer-relevant grants equal to NIH R01 in funding