Please join the #LCSM community and moderator Janet Freeman-Daily (@JFreemanDaily) for our next #LCSM Chat on Thursday, October 3, 2019, at 8 pm Eastern Time (5 pm Pacific) to discuss “The Path to Research Advocacy.”

Cancer patients and their loved ones who have the skills, interest, and energy may become patient advocates for their disease. Their activities might include providing support and resources to other patients, acting as liaisons between patients and clinicians, raising awareness and educating others about their disease, and engaging in fundraising activities for advocacy and research.

Some patient advocates take the next step and evolve into research advocates. Research advocates are volunteers with a personal connection to cancer who are passionate about helping translate research findings into meaningful outcomes for patients and their families. They provide the perspective of their collective patient community in order to help research focus on the questions most important to patients and create studies that more likely to improve outcomes.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) defines a “Research Advocate” this way:

“A person who serves as a link between patients and scientific researchers. Research advocates help patients understand scientific information and research findings that may help them. They may also bring a patient perspective on research activities to scientific advisory boards and committees.”

Our October 3, #LCSM Chat will discuss research advocacy for all cancer types using the following questions:

• T1: What is cancer research advocacy, and how is it different from patient advocacy?
• T2: What skills do research advocates need to advance research?
• T3: What have research advocates done to support cancer research?
• T4: What can research advocates do in their communities to support research?
• T5: What training and resources are available for research advocates?

We are excited to have you join us for this #LCSM Chat.  Please join us this Thursday and please remember to include #lcsm in ALL your tweets so the other chat participants can see them. You can read a primer on participating in the chat here.