VIMORTP (Vanderbilt Integrated Molecular Oncology Research Training Program)

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PROJECT SUMMARY The pace of advances in molecular oncology discovery and integration to clinical practice is unparalleled. Modern cancer medicine has made the leap from model organism to studies in human-based systems, and the tools necessary to create large quantities of data, and to integrate and interpret them rapidly, have emerged simultaneously. In addition, the scientific leap has been accompanied by a dramatic increase in the importance of translational research and high quality clinical investigation. The result is an increased need for skilled workers who are able to be translate findings made at the bench, to have a broad understanding of working with human samples and data, who are capable communicators, and who have the skillset to be able to make informed connections to human disease. Our goal is to foster a cohort of highly trained, motivated, and effective clinician-investigators and translational scientists in this arena, who are poised to lead the coming advancements in the field of oncology research. Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (“Vanderbilt”) has a strong history of research in personalized or precision medicine, as well as significant depth in molecular oncology research. In addition, we have a longstanding and secure pipeline of MD-PhD and exceptional MD trainees joining our program, owing to the Harrison Society physician scientist training program in internal medicine, the pediatric physician-scientist pipeline, and the Holman Scholar Program in radiation oncology that have been a major successes of the Vanderbilt educational platform. We are proposing a training program that builds on that foundation, and selects 1-2 clinical fellow level trainees each year for an intensively mentored training experience. We propose the following aims: 1) to facilitate training in the fundamentals of discovery and implementation research in their selected area of expertise, 2) to provide structured mentoring in communication skills and team building for the future leadership needs in managing research teams, 3) to deliver focused training in protocol writing and manuscript preparation, and 4) to identify and develop trainees who are representative of the diversity of our population. Trainees will be provided an opportunity to expand skills where needed, in statistical methodology, informatics strategy, human tissue investigation, or tumor immunology. We have assembled a strong cohort of mentors representing translational cancer research, tumor immunology, drug development, and cancer epidemiology. Together, we are prepared to develop a new generation of clinician-investigators who are prepared to join and lead the exciting developments that promise to improve our ability to detect, manage, and cure cancer.