Research Training in Gastroenterology

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This is the renewal application for Years 11-15 of a training program designed to prepare scientists to conduct state-of-the-art, multi-disciplinary research that will accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into actions that improve digestive health of people and populations and who will assume leadership roles in digestive disease epidemiology and health services research. Trainees are at the postdoctoral level: a mixture of MDs and PhDs supported for 2 years. The program places strong emphasis on epidemiology and health services research, the rationale being the critical need for “bench to bedside” translational research. There is also a need for “bedside to clinic”, or “efficacy to effectiveness, and patient centered comparative effectiveness” translational or outcomes research. The mentors (3 MDs, 3 MD/MPH, 1 MD/MSHS, 2 MD/PhD and 3 PhDs) represent a multidisciplinary group of experienced investigators from various departments at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), all with well-funded research programs that cover broad areas of clinical research including epidemiology (e.g., clinical, molecular, genetic, and microbiome), health services research, decision making, and implementation research related to several digestive disorders. Existing faculty members have outstanding mentoring histories, and excellent track records of participation in our training program activities. The Program Director, Hashem B El-Serag, MD, MPH, will continue on the grant, and Dr. Fasiha Kanwal, MD, MSHS will join as co-Director. They will jointly maintain ultimate authority for the program and manage day-to-day operations. Together, they will coordinate recruitment and selection of candidates, oversee the curriculum, and be responsible for the selection and evaluation of the mentoring team. Major administrative decisions (e.g., selection of trainees) are handled by the Training Advisory Committee, composed of the Program Director, co-Director, and three other program faculty. Trainees have individual research mentoring committees, must prepare a written research proposal to be defended to the committee, and have periodic reviews that include academic and career assessment. Trainees attend and present at a weekly research seminar series and a monthly journal club. They are selected from a highly competitive applicant pool that already exists at BCM. In the past 4 years, admission to the program has been very competitive, and all available slots were filled with high quality candidates. The trainees have performed well, with the two post-doctoral graduates obtaining master’s degrees in Public Health, remaining in academia, publishing several first author original research papers in peer reviewed journals and presenting at national research conferences. The current proposal includes new features designed to enrich and enhance the existing program, including new mentors, the creation of two distinct training tracks (epidemiology and health services research), and the expansion of enrichment activities, such as team training, a monthly seminar on success in academic careers, and a wellness program.