COE CARES – Community Advisors for Research Equity in Science

Who are we?

We are a patient advocacy/advisory council comprised of cancer survivors, family members, and caregivers from across Colorado. CARES is sponsored by the CU Cancer Center’s Office of Community Outreach and Engagement, and aims to help investigators in the basic sciences, clinical, translational, and population-based research areas who seek input from community members as advisors or advocates for new grants and/or on-going research studies.

Purpose

To facilitate community-engaged research among CU Cancer Center investigators in their development and conduct of cancer-related research by engaging patient community advisors/patient advocates in providing input and feedback on research materials to improve investigators’ research design, development, implementation, and dissemination of their work. 

Vision

COE CARES members strive to provide insightful input and feedback to investigators to facilitate community-engaged research and improve patient-centered outcomes and assure appropriate representation of population subgroups from the catchment in cancer research.

Why do you need COE CARES?

• Input and feedback on research study materials
• Guidance on how to enhance participant enrollment from diverse groups
• Guidance on disseminating and sharing research findings with communities
• Grant review support
• Access to patient advocates who can work with investigators for new grant submissions that require advocates (e.g. DoD, PCORI grants)

How can we assist you?

If you are planning to write a grant that requires patient advocate(s) or just desire feedback from the community regarding any aspect of your research, we invite you to come present to our CARES panel at one of our monthly meetings.

How can investigators request time to present?

Contact Sindy Gonzalez for more information at coe@cuanschutz.edu.

What is the membership criteria?

• Members are intended to reflect diversity in culture, ethnicity, gender, age and healthcare experiences of Colorado residents, and come from rural and urban areas throughout Colorado.
• Members will be encouraged to complete online training for human subjects’ research.
• Members must have experience with cancer: survivors, family members and/or caregivers.

Interested in joining COE CARES as a member?

Contact Sindy Gonzalez for more information at coe@cuanschutz.edu.