For CPRIT, a patient advocate is a trained individual who meets the qualifications set by the Institute and appointed to a Scientific Research and Prevention Programs Committee to specifically represent the interests of cancer patients as part of the peer review of grant applications assigned to the advocate’s committee.

To be eligible for consideration as an advocate reviewer, the applicant must:

1. Represent an organization or other community of people;
2. Demonstrate prior community involvement or other work on behalf of cancer patients;
3. Possess good communication and writing skills, including the ability to analyze information and make judgments with consideration of patient impact;
4. Express interest in and fundamental knowledge of the medical research process, including basic and translational scientific research and prevention concepts;
5. Reside outside of the state of Texas;
6. Have science-based training. This training requirement shall be considered fulfilled if the Patient Advocate has:
   1. Attended a science-based training program from the American Association for Cancer Research Survivor-Scientist Program, American Society of Clinical Oncology Research Review Sessions for Patient Advocates, Research Advocacy Network Advocate Institute or National Breast Cancer Coalition Project LEAD no more than three years prior to appointment to the Institute’s Scientific Research and Prevention Programs Committee; or
   2. Participated in at least one full cycle of grant review conducted by the Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, Federal Drug Administration or Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute no more than three years prior to appointment to the Institute’s Scientific Research and Prevention Programs Committee.

Advocate reviewers keep the needs of the patient and the community at the forefront of expert reviewers’ discussions and they are reminded of the human dimension of the disease. Their participation results in increased awareness of the importance of prevention and research and a stronger relationship between the scientific, public health and advocate communities.

Advocate reviewers participate in the Prevention, Research, and Product Development Research panels along with scientific and public health reviewers and have a role in scoring applications.

Advocate reviewers serve as lay representatives. They are selected on the basis of their consumer advocacy and survivorship experience. Therefore, advocate reviewers with scientific and technical expertise may be assigned to a panel that is unrelated to their expertise.

CPRIT is committed to enhancing and improving the process of peer review and advocate participation. After every peer review meeting, panel members debrief on their experience and provide feedback on what would make the process and the experience better. Comments may also be solicited from reviewers in the form of a post-meeting online evaluation form.

There must be at least one patient advocate appointed to each peer review panel. Each program, Academic Research, Prevention, and Product Development Research, will determine the number of advocate reviewers needed based on the volume of applications for each review cycle. The CPRIT CEO, with approval by simple majority of the Oversight Committee, is responsible for appointing all review panel members for each program.

Orientation materials are provided for all reviewers and include an overview of the peer review process, policies, procedures, and guidelines. Prior to the panel meeting, advocate reviewers may participate in a brief orientation session that is available for all reviewers (may be a webinar or phone conference) where the program and peer review processes are discussed.

To be eligible to review for CPRIT, an advocate reviewer must have completed one of the science-based training programs identified by CPRIT or this training requirement can be fulfilled if the advocate reviewer has participated in a least one full cycle of grant review conducted by CPRIT, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs(CDMRP), the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) or Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) no more than three years prior to appointment to CPRIT’s Scientific Research and Prevention Programs Committee.

Training programs identified by CPRIT as meeting the requirement for eligibility include:

• American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Survivor<->Scientist Program
• American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Research Review Sessions for Patient Advocates
• Research Advocacy Network (RAN) Advocate Institute
• National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) Project LEAD

The following links will direct you to information on the training programs identified by CPRIT as meeting the requirement for eligibility. Some of these organizations offer scholarships to attend the trainings.

• American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Survivor<->Scientist Program
• American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Research Review Sessions for Patient Advocates
• Research Advocacy Network (RAN) Advocate Institute
• National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) Project LEAD

Before the peer review meeting, advocate reviewers are encouraged to call the GDIT staff person assigned to their panel. GDIT is the company that CPRIT contracts with for peer review and grants management support. GDIT staff have a broad range of scientific, administrative and technical skills to support the review process.

Application review time will vary among Academic Research, Prevention, and Product Development Research programs and by individual reviewers. In general, each reviewer will be assigned 8-12 applications that must be reviewed prior to the panel review meeting; this step could take 1-2 hours per application including preparing written comments. The peer review meetings generally last 1.5 to 2 days.

Peer review meetings may be held by teleconference or in person. In person meetings are generally 1.5 to 2 days but could require travel of up to 3 days. Advocate reviewers are expected to travel to and participate in the entire meeting.

Peer review panels may meet in Dallas, Houston or Austin, Texas. Meetings may also occur via teleconference.

Panel members are eligible to receive a standard honorarium that covers their time spent preparing for and attending the meeting. In addition, panel members also receive reimbursement for expenses related to travel and hotel accommodations during the course of the meeting.

Yes, as a member of the review panel, comments provided by advocate reviewers are considered alongside other expert reviewer comments. Additionally, advocates score each application.

Review criteria are published for each award mechanism in the Request for Application (RFA). The one key criterion that advocate reviewers are required to critique is "Significance and Impact" but they may critique others as well if they feel confident in doing so. In their application for funding, applicants are required to describe the potential impact of the proposed research or prevention program for those at risk for or affected by cancer. Guidelines for describing significance and impact will appear in each RFA and may vary for different award mechanisms so reviewers should carefully read the RFA to become familiar with what was expected from the applicant and what is expected of the reviewers.

In addition to science-based training required by CPRIT, advocate reviewers can consult the following list of websites to assist with understanding scientific applications:

• Dictionary of Cancer Terms: http://www.cancer.gov/dictionary/
• Glossary of Statistical Terms: http://www.cancer.gov/statistics/glossary
• NCI’s Understanding Cancer Series: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/understandingcancer/cancer