Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Career Development K12 Program

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PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT The overall objective of the NEI Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Program Award at UCSD is to develop outstanding clinician scientists to successfully compete for NIH grants and emerge as leaders within academic ophthalmology. Through this institutional career development award, we will continue to mentor clinician scientists toward independent academic appointments in ophthalmology. Since 1991, the UC San Diego Shiley Eye Institute has excelled in mentoring the career development of clinician scientists throughout ophthalmology. Many of these individuals now have successful research and clinical careers around the world; they include Department Chairs, Division Chiefs, and impactful academicians. With continued funding, we will amplify these strengths through a structured program of mentoring, research, and education to identify and mentor the next generation of academic clinician scientists, across all subspecialty areas of ophthalmology. With an emphasis on recruiting strong applications from women and minority applicants, Scholars will be selected each year after their completion of a post-residency clinical fellowship in ophthalmology. The Scholar will undertake these activities in the area of basic and/or clinical sciences appropriate to their scientific focus, and by partnering with mentor(s) to facilitate career development. Each Scholar will be trained in clinically relevant research, statistics, scientific writing, grant preparation, ethics, leadership, and the responsible conduct of research. Additional aspects of the curriculum of each Scholar will be individualized by the Program Director (PI), Research Directors, Education Director, Executive Committee, Mentoring Group, and lead mentor based upon the Scholar's selected primary research track and his/her skills, background, and career goals. Each Scholar will create an original research program and through this Award develop an independent academic career. We propose six primary research tracks: (1) Visual Neuroscience, (2) Genomics and Proteomics, (3) Bioengineering, (4) Stem Cell Biology, (5) Artificial Intelligence and Informatics, and (6) Clinical (human subjects) Research. In the first K12 funding period, we trained and recruited four clinician scientists in the subspecialty areas of retina (2), glaucoma (1), and pediatric ophthalmology (1). Two of these Scholars already have received NIH K08 awards, and the other two have submitted K08 proposals that are under consideration.