Urologic Oncology Research Training Grant

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Research Training Program (RTP) in Urologic Oncology at MSKCC is designed to train academic leaders in urologic oncology. Over 180 fellows have been trained since the fellowship program was established nearly 50 years ago. Each year 8-15 highly qualified candidates are interviewed from a pool of 25-40 applicants, 3-9 are accepted as post-doctoral fellows, all board-eligible urologists who have completed residency. Two of these are selected each year as research career awardees supported by our T32 training grant, initially funded in 1999, to spend 2 years in research with a senior scientist mentor at MSKCC, Weill Medical College of Cornell University or Rockefeller University, in an appropriate field such as immunology, biological imaging, molecular genetics, or biostatistics. Specific research projects have included adoptive immunotherapy with genetically modify T lymphocytes, monoclonal antibodies against PSMA as imaging and therapeutic agents, and gene expression analysis of prostate cancers. Of 11 fellows appointed to date, 4 are in training, 7 have graduated, and 6 are now assistant professors at major universities. Fellows are required to participate in structured, multidisciplinary clinical and research conferences and to present their work at MSKCC seminars and national meetings. They receive formal instruction in clinical research methodology, biostatistics, research ethics, and human subjects regulatory issues. Our program has grown substantially since the original award. The faculty in urology has doubled, the quality and diversity of research mentors has increased and the number and quality of fellowship applicants have grown steadily. The RTP in urologic oncology is essential to our fellowship, supporting urologists committed to research training to prepare for a career as independent investigators. Our experience over 50 years confirms that they will become leaders of urologic oncology in the next generation whose work will help decrease morbidity from GU cancers.