Three grants will help the Division of Clinical Sciences take a major step forward in educating and training clinical investigators to work on biomedical research problems in multidisciplinary teams.
The Division of Clinical Sciences, one of three programs within BioMed 21, was established as a cross-department and cross-campus division to improve the performance of patient-oriented research. Such studies move basic science insights into the clinic, working to understand in the most practical terms why people develop diseases and how to treat those diseases.
Victoria J. Fraser, M.D., clinical chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and professor of medicine, has been awarded a K12 Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Career Development grant from the National Institutes of Health. The five-year, $11.5 million award will train diverse groups of clinical investigators from numerous schools in the metropolitan area so that they can collaborate on complicated problems such as diabetes and cancer.
The schools are WUSTL, Saint Louis University School of Public Health, St. Louis College of Pharmacy, University of Missouri-St. Louis College of Nursing and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Nursing.
“This is very exciting because this type of training in clinical research hasn’t existed before at Washington University,” Fraser said.
“Previously, each department conducted its own training.”
Providing funding for up to 15 junior faculty members, the K12 grant will support training as well as tuition for course work leading to a master’s degree in clinical investigation or in public health. It will also provide each junior faculty member $25,000 of research assistance per year. For more information or to apply, contact Fraser at 454-8272 or vfraser@wustl.edu.
Additionally, Jay Piccirillo, M.D., associate professor of otolaryngology, has received a five-year, T32 Predoctoral Interdisciplinary Clinical Research Training grant to provide clinical research training among predoctoral students in fields such as medicine, physical therapy, occupational therapy, biomedical engineering, audiology and communication sciences, and social work.
“Our long-term objective is to promote the career development of nascent health-care professionals who will become outstanding patient-oriented researchers,” Piccirillo said.
This $2.8 million grant will fund 24 training slots per year — 12 two-month summer research experiences and 12 12-month immersion programs. Students will take pre-existing and new courses focused on clinical research design, biostatistics, the ethical and legal aspects of clinical research and scientific writing.
To emphasize interdisciplinary team-building, clinical research trainees will pair with another trainee, as well as at least one mentor, for their practicum research program.
Medical students who opt for the 12-month immersion program can earn a master’s degree through the M.A./M.D. program at the School of Medicine.
Bradley Evanoff, M.D., M.P.H., chief of the Division of General Medical Sciences and the Richard and Elizabeth Henby Sutter Professor of Occupational, Industrial and Environmental Medicine, has received a five-year, K30 Clinical Research Curriculum Award to develop course work and multidisciplinary training in clinical research.
This $1.5 million grant will fund the development of a core curriculum in clinical research, providing the basic foundation of knowledge required for clinical research including courses in research design, statistics, epidemiology, scientific writing and ethical issues.
In addition, the program will offer a Mentored Training Program in Clinical Investigation, which will offer course work and mentorship to fellows, postdocs and junior faculty committed to careers in clinical research.
“The core curriculum is meant to provide instruction to a broad spectrum of trainees and faculty interested in clinical research, while the mentored training program is designed for junior faculty and fellows who have support from their department to pursue research training for at least two years,” Evanoff said.
“Beginning January 2006, we plan to offer a master’s degree in clinical investigation for participants in this program.”
Both M.D.s and Ph.D.s with a strong interest in clinical research are being encouraged to apply to the mentored training program.
For more information on the Piccirillo or Evanoff grants, contact program administrator Julie Follman at 454-8540 or follman@wustl.edu, or go online to k30.im.wustl.edu.
As BioMed 21 progresses, the creation of new interdisciplinary teams is planned to enhance research efforts in an even wider range of diseases and involve faculty from the entire University.