Join The Cab

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How do I join an ANCHOR CAB?

If you are interested in joining the ANCHOR CAB, we encourage you to get in touch with the CAB chair, a standing CAB member, or local site staff to let them know of your interest.

After discussing your motivations and background, they will then ask you to provide a letter of interest outlining your relevant experience and qualifications for the entire CAB to review. It really only needs three parts, and can also serve as a basic biography for the website, if you are confirmed.

1. Introduce yourself via your current and past community involvement 2. Describe your connection to the research (HIV, cancer, anal cancer) 3. Let us know your motivation for joining the CAB

In your letter of interest, also declare any potential conflicts of interest, such as employment by a study site conducting an ANCHOR trial, or employment by any company supplying products to the ANCHOR trial.

The Chair will then distribute the letter of interest to current CAB members, who will later vote on your candidacy.

What qualifications do I need?

You will need:

  1. Availability and access to a telephone or computer to participate in monthly calls (currently zoom calls)
  2. Background knowledge of HIV treatment, basic concepts of research and clinical trial design and conduct
  3. Strong interest in HPV and HPV-related anal cancer prevention
  4. Motivation and availability to be an effective participant on the CAB
  5. Member of a community within commuting distance of an ANCHOR site
  6. Willingness to sign a confidentiality agreement with the Data Management Center, since CAB members sometimes discuss sensitive participant information

What will I have to do?

We request a two year term of commitment, which means attending a monthly call with the other ANCHOR CAB members from other sites. Membership is voluntary and members may resign at any time. You may also be called upon to:

  • Brainstorm recruitment approaches;
  • Focus on populations that are sometimes difficult to recruit;
  • Find creative ways to approach community;
  • Review recruitment materials;
  • Inform local communities about the study at venues (places / events) where it is not appropriate for a site staff recruiter to be;
  • Meet with local study site staff and investigators to learn more about how the study is going and let them know how the community perceives the study by communicating community concerns to study staff.

    • What are the best practices in place for CAB members at other ANCHOR sites?

  • Email your site Principal Investigator (PI) before the monthly CAB call to see if they have anything the CAB as a whole should discuss.
  • Email your PI a summary of issues the CAB has raised after the call.
  • Set up a monthly lunch or every other month face-to-face meeting with the site staff or site PI.
  • Attend annual study site visits when the national principal investigator (Dr Joel Palefsky) comes out to the site to see how things are going.