BACKGROUND
 
The goal of the Cancer TEC Associate Membership program is to provide an opportunity for those who are not currently funded by the NCI Cancer Tissue Engineering Collaborative to engage in Cancer TEC activities and potentially form collaborations with Cancer TEC funded investigators. The Membership would allow domestic or foreign principal investigators who are not directly supported through a Cancer TEC award, but are doing relevant research, to be able to: (1) attend Cancer TEC monthly meetings as non-voting members, with the exception of meetings that are designated for Cancer TEC members only; (2) attend Annual Investigators meetings; (3) attend and participate in working groups or interest groups.

Associate Members are expected to participate and attend at least 50% (~6 monthly meetings) of the Cancer TEC meetings a year with the exception of meetings that are designated for Cancer TEC members only. Associate Members are expected to present their research during a monthly or annual meeting within 1 year of the start of their associate membership. Associate members will uphold the spirit of openness that has been cultivated within the Cancer TEC consortium regarding presenting cutting-edge research. As such, Associate members agree not to discuss unpublished ideas and data presented outside of the consortium. Associate Members are expected to abide by all pertinent NIH and NCI policies as well as any additional Cancer TEC-specific policies. Associate Members are encouraged to pursue collaborations with Cancer TEC Members, shall include or acknowledge individual TEC investigators on resulting publications, and shall abide by standard community data and resource sharing practices (i.e. associate Members should not analyze or publish non-public data without the consent of the data generators). Associate Membership will require renewal every 3 years.

The importance of scientific discourse from differing viewpoints is valuable when discussing research directions and progress. Associate Members are invited to actively contribute to scientific discussions, and it is expected associate Members, TEC investigators and administrators will work with inclusivity and respect for one another within a supportive and open environment. Failure to abide by these rules and policies may result in suspension or termination of membership.

Information about the current Cancer TEC Program, including a list of currently funded projects can be found here: https://www.cancer.gov/about-nci/organization/dcb/research-programs/tec. Please contact Steven Becker (steven.becker@nih.gov) for any questions about associate membership.