CCNY-MSK Partnership Training Programs

Partnership Undergraduate Research Training (PURT)

The CCNY-MSK Partnership's Research Education Core offers the PURT program for undergraduate students. The primary goals of PURT are to implement joint education and training opportunities between CCNY and MSK in order to attract students at all levels in their academic careers to be engaged in cancer research, and to support their career development.

We prepare our trainees for laboratory positions and for graduate work. Trainees compete for a summer research placement based on their academic performance and recommendation letters. PURT also offers a year long series of seminars in which invited speakers from various institutions discuss aspects of career development and research opportunities for trainees entering doctoral programs. Trainees are required to take a course on ethics in biomedicine and research. Trainees are also required to present their work at national and local conferences.

There are four different research tracks:

1. PURT

The primary goals of PURT is to implement joint education and training opportunities between CCNY and MSK to attract undergraduate students at all levels in their careers in cancer research, and to support their career development. 

2. PURT Summer Clinical Oncology Research

PURT Summer Clinical Oncology Research Experience is an eight-week program offered to undergraduates and post-baccalaureate students at CCNY and supported by the Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Office of Faculty Development and the CCNY-MSK Partnership. The goal of the program is to encourage the participation of students in cancer research. Freshman are encouraged to apply.

3. PURT Nanotechnology Research

This program offers one year of research training in Molecular Imaging, Nanotechnology for undergraduate juniors and seniors. Students will be trained in the Department of Radiology at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK).

4. PURT Community Outreach and Behavioral Science Research

Undergraduate students will have the opportunity to work on a cancer-related research project with mentors from CCNY and/or MSK. The types of projects can range from basic science, behavioral science, as well as outreach-related research projects.

All students regardless of track will be provided a research stipend and opportunity to attend a scientific conference.

General Program Timeline:

• Application Opens – Late Fall
• Student Selection and Placement – Spring
• Research Training – Summer
• Fulfill Program Requirements during the following Fall and Spring

CCNY-MSK Partnership Graduate Training Program

The Partnership’s graduate training program is open to doctoral students who are enrolled in the CCNY Clinical Psychology program and show an interest in cancer health differences. Trainees who express a research interest in that area will be selected according to their GPAs and letters of recommendation. We then pair them with appropriate research mentors from CCNY and or MSK and provide funding for 2 years. All graduate trainees will be required to:

1. Make presentations of their research findings once a year at a national conference
2. Participate in the Graduate Health Differences Curriculum,
3. Participate in professional development workshops, which include, Taking the Next Step in Your Career, The Art & Science of Effective Communication, Time Management, and Interview Best Practices.
4. Regularly attend seminars at CCNY or MSK, and
5. Participate in grant writing workshops at the CUNY Graduate Center or at MSK.

We expect that graduate trainees will complete and publish manuscripts from a thesis in cancer health differences in a timely manner. Further expectations are that the students will go onto postdoctoral positions to pursue research about cancer health differences/outcomes.