Omics and Symptom Science Training Program

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In 2011, the Genomic Nursing State of the Science Advisory Panel developed a Blueprint for Nursing Science which included the need to develop the next generation of nursing scientists poised to lead interdisciplinary teams that integrate omics-based measures with clinical outcomes research. To accomplish this, a concerted effort needs to be made in the training of nursing science doctoral students and postdoctoral trainees with skills necessary to incorporate and evaluate omics in health and disease. More recently a focus on precision health has been advocated by NIH and NINR. This new emphasis brings with it the need for a larger cadre of nurse scientists who understand, appreciate, and utilize scientific advances in the fields of genetics, transcriptomics, metabolomics and the microbiome. The integration of omics in nursing science programs is needed to fully understand biologic mechanisms underlying symptoms and function in order to advance individualized healthcare and to optimize treatment and outcomes. Given nursing’s tradition of utilizing biobehavioral information in concert with patient and family assessments, the development of nurse scientists with complementary skills in the interpretation and clinical integration (i.e., translation) of data derived from new technologies is imperative. With the development of new technologies that can capture molecular characteristics, new innovative approaches to enhance health and reduce symptom burden can be developed and tested. The University of Washington School of Nursing (UW SoN) has a long history in building biobehavioral nursing science capacity. Prior and on-going work by nurse scientists at UW SoN incorporates basic bench science in concert with clinical and laboratory studies of diverse patient groups, and translated their findings to clinical practice. Our goal now is to expand this capacity by integrating omics tools and interdisciplinary educational approaches into our doctoral and postdoctoral training. The specific aims for the proposed Omics and Symptom Science Training Program (OSSTP) are 1) to recruit and retain a qualified diverse cadre of pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees, 2) to provide interdisciplinary didactic research training in the fundamental theories, methods, and skills necessary to conduct research that includes omics measures in concert with symptoms, 3) to facilitate the ability of trainees to develop research expertise through ongoing research experience in omics and symptom science, 4) to mentor all trainees in the ethical conduct of research, especially in diverse vulnerable populations, and 5) to recognize the ethical implications of omics measures in nursing research. Our goal is to train 3 predoctoral trainees and 2 postdoctoral trainees annually for 5 years. Training program structures, processes, and outcomes will be evaluated on an ongoing basis.