Core Leader: Diana Murray

The Outreach core (dubbed ForCaST, outreach “For CaST”) will provide dissemination of CaST technologies to the research community via hands-on case study experiences and targeted activities for essentially all ability levels, from no-tech through high-tech. ForCaST will forge new partnerships with cancer researchers to cultivate the next generation of diversity-promoting scientists; will strengthen connections with students from groups that have been excluded from STEM fields; and will foster systems approaches in science more generally. By building on partnerships with groups of different perspectives, including CSBC investigators, cancer biologists and clinicians, young learners, and professional artists, ForCaST will provide alternative and enriching opportunities for learning and community building. Our goals include:

• WebCaST, Web-based CaST resources. CaST data and resources will be combined with CaST Investigator publications to create a set of tutorials and work flows as part of containerized packages for a different CaST publication each year. To facilitate dissemination and adoption, parallel sets of tutorials targeted to researchers at all levels from CSBC centers, to cancer researchers, more generally, and to clinicians will be provided and made accessible through CSBC portals.
• WebCaST-High, WebCaST for high school students. Building on the success and popularity of DREAM-High, a new course, WebCaST-High, will be created for high-school students recruited by the Columbia University Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences (CURE) and through CaST’s long-term partnership with the Palazzo-Strozzi Foundation to leverage materials from WebCaST. A core subset of WebCaST-High activities will be developed and offered with investigators from other CSBC centers.
• BroadCaST, Broadly accessible CaST research. Leveraging the CaST Scholars Program and a Systems Biology course we previously developed, ForCaST will offer a projects-based Cancer Systems Biology course at Brooklyn College through their Cancer Center Program for CommUnity Outreach, Research and Education (BCCC-CURE) with the goal of developing a pipeline for students to graduate education at Columbia University.
• StudioCaST, Studio art in CaST. ForCast will expand its collaborations with Professional Artists through its recent co-creation of the new CSBC working group “Navigating Cancer with Science and Art”, to develop a creative enrichment platform through a yearly Cancer Artist Residency. In Year 1, the Artist-in-Residence will work with CaST to create a novel product of Art as Visual Language that will form the basis of hands-on modules for the WebCast-High and BroadCaST courses and foster multidisciplinary perspectives of cancer for all ForCaST participants.
• CaSTanet, CaST networks for inclusion. Each year, two CaST postdoctoral research scientists will work with ForCaST. By contributing to the development, offering, and establishment of CaST resources for diverse communities, the postdocs will gain experience with inclusive practices to implement in their future careers thus helping to effect academic cultural change.