A human-centered, participatory design approach to cancer research training

Advancing translational cancer research increasingly requires meaningful engagement with patients, survivors, and communities; however, most research training models introduce community engagement later in training and frame it as a discrete competency rather than a formative dimension of scientific development. To explore an alternative approach, we developed a structured pilot training initiative designed to engage cancer research trainees early in their formation through sustained interaction with cancer survivors and advocates. Guided by human-centered and participatory design principles, this pilot was intentionally designed to foster early relational development between trainees and community members, cultivating solidarity, empathy, and bidirectional learning through sustained dialogue and shared inquiry. The initiative was implemented as a six-week virtual program combining didactic sessions, survivorship panels, bidirectional dialogue, and problem-based co-learning activities. Participants included biomedical trainees, scientists, cancer survivors, and advocates recruited through academic and community networks. Formative data were collected using pre- and post-session surveys and open-ended reflections to assess feasibility, engagement, and early learning signals. Across the pilot, participants reported increased comfort engaging across differences in expertise and lived experience, greater appreciation for survivor perspectives in research development, and improved ability to communicate cancer science in accessible language. Themes from the dialogue reflected a shared recognition among both trainees and survivors that bidirectional communication deepens understanding of cancer while also shaping how individuals perceive and experience their own identity. These findings suggest that intentionally sequencing cancer research training to foreground lived experience, dialogue, and co-learning may help cultivate relational capacities essential for ethical, participatory cancer research. Future work will focus on expanding and evaluating this model longitudinally and integrating formation-centered, human-centered design approaches within broader community-engaged interprofessional education efforts.