Pediatric Clinical Research Scholar Program - Washington

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We propose to develop an NCRR Pediatric Clinical Research Scholars (PCRS) Program in Washington, D.C. as a consortium effort between Children's National Medical Center/George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (CNMC/GW), Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC), and Howard University Hospital (HUH). CNMC will serve as the lead institution and is the applicant for this grant. The goal of the PCRS program is to increase the number of well-trained and innovative pediatric clinical investigators who are able to design and conduct all phases of patient-odented research and who will become leaders of multidisciplinary clinical research efforts. The Scholars will be guaranteed 75-90% protected time throughout the program (2-5 years) and will be provided training in patient-oriented research, with the goal of achieving independent NIH funding by the end of their participation in the program. With the infrastructure provided by the three NCRR-funded GCRCs at CNMC, GUMC and HUH, we believe that a successful career as an independent pediatric clinical investigator is an achievable goal for each Scholar. We will enroll a total of 12 Scholars during the first 5-years award period. In addition, we will enroll two additional "Scholars" using institutional CNMC funds as a matching grant. Both internal and external recruitment of PCRS candidates will be pursued, with an emphasis on women, underrepresented minorities, and individuals with disabilities. The individualized and structured PCRS training program will include: 1) Fundamental and comprehensive mentored training in clinical research methodology; 2) Mandatory courses relevant to clinical research that can lead to a post-graduate degree; 3) Training in the responsible conduct of research; and 4) An intensive supervised clinical research project involving one or more of the three GCRCs. Individual programs of study will be performed under the guidance of one of the 21 Lead Mentors with the help of other mentors and support faculty if required, and will be integrated across the three institutions. We have selected mentors in a wide range of disciplines in order to be able to train Scholars with diverse research interests. We also present 8 potential PCRS candidates from the consortium, 5 of whom are women, 5 are from minority groups and one has a disability. Available clinical research training areas include: Behavioral medicine and clinical neuroscience with research interests in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), language disorders, feeding disorders, and depression; Genetic medicine with research in sickle cell disease, hemochromatosis, inborn errors of metabolism, hypertension and muscular dystrophies; Oncology, with studies in brain tumors and leukemia; Hematology, immunology and infectious diseases with research in HIV, transfusion and Hepatitis C, iron overload and vaccine development; Experimental therapeutics with drug trials in cancer, infectious diseases, and neurological disorders; and Health services and Public Health research with research in infant mortality, violence prevention, HIV prevention in adolescents, and prediction of outcome following injury or severe illness.