Academy Leadership Plan: As Academy Dean I will facilitate and enrich the provision of the raw materials for durable academic success and establish the Academy of Kidney Cancer Investigators (AKCI) framework to ensure continued progress toward the mutual goal of eliminating kidney cancer. I have assembled an international advisory panel with diverse skill sets including laboratory science (PIs of both RCC SPORE grants), translational medicine, urologic expertise, and experience in the conduct of clinical trials. The geographic, gender, ethnic, seniority, and expertise diversity of this panel will provide the mentor/mentee pairs with a full spectrum of resources, visibility, and opportunities for career advancement. I will also personally create opportunities for the mentees through my extensive contacts and positions within various RCC-related societies. I have worked with my advisory panel to develop a set of objective assessment criteria upon which to assess the initial mentoring plan and establish benchmarks for both the mentor(s) and mentee. This plan will include concrete goals at 1, 3, and 5 years with measurable outcomes for publications (quantity and impact), funding, abstract presentations, clinical trial involvement/leadership, speaking opportunities, collaborations, national society involvement, and visibility. An annual, in-person workshop will be held to bring all relevant parties together to critically evaluate the mentoring plan for each mentor/mentee pair, ongoing research projects, identify barriers and strategies to overcome, foster intra-Academy collaboration, and provide a concrete roadmap for each mentor/mentee pair. This in-person meeting would be repeated annually, with ongoing interaction to review progress toward goals as well as how to remediate lack of progress.

Monthly webinars for all Academy members and the advisory panel would also be held to facilitate communication and assess progress on an ongoing basis. These webinars would include advisory panel members and outside speakers including other researchers in RCC and other tumor types at all levels to provide insight into career success, other successful mentors to foster development of the mentors, and others such as grant funding entities, laboratory managers, and those involved in the design and execution of clinical trials (e.g., industry representatives, CTEP, CROs). A virtual platform (MentorcliQ) will be used to facilitate constant communication and mentoring. This full-spectrum strategy will enhance the career development of both mentors and mentees to produce durable contributors to RCC research.

Impact of the AKCI: The Academy will result in a cadre of RCC early-career investigators and mentors. A ruthless focus and efficiency toward pursuing only those projects that are aligned with the goal of developing an RCC career and eliminating kidney cancer will be emphasized. The academic goals noted above will be focused toward discovering and developing new and better treatments for RCC. Specifically, I have commitments from the Kidney Cancer Association (KCA) and KidneyCAN, who sponsor the major RCC clinical and translational meetings, respectively, to include the mentees in the programs for these meetings. These opportunities will enrich the development of the young investigators but also grow the critical mass of RCC researchers to broaden Academy impact. The annual ACKI meeting to be held the day prior to the annual KCA meeting will also include an expanded list of RCC experts including laboratory scientists, patient advocates, and industry representatives brought in to provide further constructive and objective feedback to the mentor/mentee pairs and will result in raised awareness and impact of the Academy in the international RCC community. The Academy will also foster extensive collaboration through data use agreements (DUAs) and material transfer agreements (MTAs) among participating centers as well as integration of mentees with the KCRP Clinical Consortium Award. Increased socialization and collaboration among Academy members will exponentially increase the Academy impact to eliminate kidney cancer.