Partnerships between communities and educational institutions are gaining recognition and momentum. With the remarkable expansion of interest and investment in creative and productive partnerships, we believe the timing of the newly signed partnership agreement between Sacramento State and the UC Davis Cancer Center and the creation of the Sacramento State/UCDCC Partnership is ideal as a springboard to build such relationships to address disparities in cancer prevention, control and care in our region. 

This Conference brought Sacramento State faculty and students together with UCDCC faculty/researchers and diverse community leaders to ask and attempt to answer the following key questions:

• What is the cancer burden in Region 3 for underserved and minority populations?
• How can we address the disparities in the cancer burden through community and campus partnerships and participatory research teams?
• How do we fully realize authentic partnerships between communities and higher education institutions?
• How do we balance power and share resources among partners?
• How do we create healthier communities through partnerships?
• What are the barriers and challenges getting in our way?
• How do we overcome these, individually and collectively?
• How do we translate "principles" and "best practices" into widespread, cancer prevention and control activities? 

Conference participants had the opportunity to learn about the cancer burden in our region; the disparities in addressing this burden; effective Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) models and research designs; develop action plans for new research projects and grant funding; and network with other researchers and community leaders. The Conference fostered and encouraged new campus-community partnerships and forging those partnerships in order to identify research projects of benefit the region and its minority communities.