Integrating a community steering committee (CSC) into a national cancer institute (NCI) inter-institutional academic partnership

Background: Northwestern University's Comprehensive Cancer Center and Northeastern Illinois University (the only four-year public institution in the Midwest designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution), are building a partnership to address the cancer disparities that exist throughout Chicago. This collaborative aims to facilitate opportunities for skills training, education, and mentorship amongst faculty and students; build capacity for inter-institutional cancer disparities research projects; and build a pipeline of underrepresented students interested in pursuing careers in health fields. To bridge these efforts to the community the partnership built a Community Steering Committee (CSC). Methods: Both academic institutions identified community partners aligned with the mission, vision and goals of the collaborative. The newly formed CSC includes the following members: a breast cancer survivor, the manager of health systems and epidemiology at the American Cancer Society IL Chapter, the executive director of the Chicago Hispanic Health Coalition, and a Chicago public health professional. Results: CSC members meet with the investigative team bi-monthly to process: the partnership's iterative evaluations of curricula gaps; programming targeting capacity for community-engaged research; and student and faculty education and career development. The CSC members advise the partnership on ways to engage underrepresented students and faculty members, and evaluate the community engagement component of research projects. Conclusion: The partnership leverages strengths of the private research-intensive institution, with those of the public minority serving teaching-intensive institution, and the community expertise of the CSC. The CSC assures that all of the partnership's research, training and education ventures are connected and meaningful to the community.