Research Training in Prevention and Care of Chronic Illness in Childhood

描述(由申请人提供)：要实现转化性研究的承诺，将需要一支经过专门培训的新的调查人员队伍，将发现从基础和临床科学转移到预防和护理服务，在那里它们实际上影响儿童的生命轨迹。通过这项拟议的NRSA培训计划，我们将借鉴哈佛大学跨学科教职员工的经验，为儿童健康研究人员实施一项创新的、高度结构化的培训计划，专门专注于将证据转化为有效的儿童护理提供和社区干预。由于改善儿童健康的有效策略经常跨越临床专业的界限，该计划将包括任何内科或外科专科的儿科全科医生和专科医生，以及受过博士培训的研究人员。同样，它将提供跨越方法边界的量身定制的培训，包括定量和定性分析方法，以及让社区和卫生系统参与研究的背景敏感方法。学员研究将归入NICHD最感兴趣的三个领域：1)促进我们对健康和疾病的生命过程性质的理解，并减少对未来疾病的风险因素(产前、婴儿期或儿童期)的暴露的研究；2) 与临床实践中新知识和创新的实施直接相关的研究，包括转变系统以提供更有效、更协调的护理的方法；以及3)消除儿童保健和保健方面的差距的研究，这些差距继续对儿童健康产生普遍影响。该方案将在两年的培训中每年支持3名博士后研究员(每年总共6名)。参与项目的教师在致力于预防和护理关键健康状况(包括肥胖、哮喘、炎症性肠病、自闭症和复杂的慢性病和残疾)的广泛学科领域拥有专业知识，并在处理不同患者群体方面拥有丰富的经验。该计划还与目前领导国家护理改善工作的伙伴组织接触。每个受训人员将攻读哈佛大学公共卫生学院公共卫生硕士学位(生物统计学和流行病学的核心技能)，并参加高级方法培训课程，以在临床环境和社区中开发和严格测试创新策略。经验丰富的教师使用明确的指导策略，广泛的研究技能课程，以及密切跟踪学员的进展，所有这些都确保完成高质量的研究，并获得富有成效的学术生涯所需的技能。我们期待我们的毕业生能够成为领导者，将“我们所知道的”转化为“我们所做的”，以改善儿童的健康和保健。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Meeting the promise of translational research will require a new cadre of investigators specifically trained to move discoveries from basic and clinical science to prevention and care delivery, where they actually impact the life course trajectories of children. Through this proposed NRSA training program, we will build on the experience of our interdisciplinary Harvard-wide faculty to implement an innovative, highly structured, training program for child health researchers, specifically focused on the translation of evidence into effective care delivery and community intervention for children. Because effective strategies to improve child health often cross boundaries of clinical specialties, this program will include post-residency pediatric generalists and subspecialists from any medical or surgical subspecialty, as well as PhD-trained investigators. Likewise, it will provide tailored training across methodological boundaries, including quantitative and qualitative analytic methods, and context-sensitive methods to engage communities and health systems in research. Trainee research will fall under three domains of central interest to NICHD: 1) studies that advance our understanding of the life course nature of health and illness, and lead to decreased exposure to risk factors (prenatally, in infancy, or in childhood) for future disease; 2) research directly related to implementation of new knowledge and innovations in clinical practice, including methods for transforming systems to deliver more effective, coordinated care; and 3) research to eliminate disparities in both health and health care for children, which continue to have pervasive effects on child health. The program will support 3 postdoctoral fellows in each of two years of training (6 total per year). The participating faculty have expertie in a broad range of disciplines devoted to prevention and care of key health conditions including obesity, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, autism, and complex chronic illness and disability, as well as extensive experience in working with diverse patient populations. The program also engages partner organizations currently leading national care improvement efforts. Each trainee will pursue an MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health (for core skills of biostatistics and epidemiology), and participate in a curriculum of advanced methods training required to develop and rigorously test innovative strategies in clinical settings and communities. Experienced faculty using well defined mentorship strategies, an extensive research skills curriculum, and close tracking of trainee progress, all ensure completion of high quality research and acquisition of the skills needed for productive academic careers. We expect our graduates to be poised to become leaders in translating "what we know" into "what we do" to improve health and health care for children.