In memoriam: an appreciation for the NCI R25T cancer education and career development program

On September 7, 2013, the NCI R25T award mechanism ended its final "receipt/review/award cycle" after more than two decades shaping the cancer prevention and control workforce. Created in 1991 to respond to a national shortage of cancer prevention and control researchers, the R25T supported innovative institutional programs with specialized curricula preparing individuals for careers as independent scientists for the field. Required elements ensured developing transdisciplinary sensibilities and skills highly suited to team science, including conducting collaborative research with mentors of complementary expertise. R25Ts provided trainee stipends, research, education, and travel funds at levels far higher than T32 National Service Research Awards to attract individuals from diverse disciplines. Graduates are faculty at all academic ranks, and hold leadership positions such as associate directors of cancer prevention and control. Beyond its trainees, R25Ts also recruited into the field other students exposed through courses in specialized prevention curricula, as well as course instructors and trainee mentors, who did not initially consider their work to be relevant to cancer prevention. Although advances are being achieved, prevention efforts are not yet fully realized, and currently unknown is the impact on the workforce of terminating the R25T, including whether it is another barrier to preventing cancer.