Conducting Child Health Care Research in Vulnerable Populations

 描述（由申请人提供）：这是范德比尔特大学医学院儿科T32培训项目的延期申请。我们的长期目标是支持儿科医生科学家的职业发展，他们将成为弱势群体儿童健康研究的未来领导者。这些人群包括由于内在生物差异、疾病负担增加或经济限制、居住地和无法有效沟通等社会特征而面临不良健康后果风险的儿童。这项建议的具体目的是在实习期结束时或研究金培训初期确定合格的受训人员，并在合格导师的实验室为他们提供跨学科研究经验，该实验室有足够的资源和空间，并随时可以接触特殊的弱势儿童群体。为了确保长期的成功，这方面的经验将与范德比尔特科学硕士临床调查和公共卫生硕士课程相结合，在弱势群体中进行研究的应用技能实习，以及来自多个学科的学员之间的频繁互动，以促进学员的职业发展。自2009年5月该计划获得资助以来，重点包括培训15名来自儿科学、儿科传染病、儿科血液学/肿瘤学、发育儿科学、普通儿科学、儿科心脏病学和儿科内分泌学的年轻医生科学家。9名研究员已完成该计划，100%进入额外的研究培训或学术生涯在培训结束。在两名研究员因个人原因在培训后的两年内离开学术界后，该计划修改了选拔标准，迄今为止，100%的最近毕业的研究员仍然留在学术界。受训者发表了63篇手稿（每位受训者4.2篇），该方案的多样性努力相当成功（27%的受训者来自代表性不足的群体）。鉴于持续强大的申请人库和该计划的优势，我们建议继续支持PGY-5的三名学员和PGY-6的三名学员。项目主任将利用由范德比尔特大学内外的国家专家组成的咨询委员会，以获得关于候选人和导师选择，选定候选人的学术进展和整体成功的持续建议。该提案广泛集中在四个核心学科，代表了范德比尔特大学独特和实质性的研究优势，并确定了儿童健康研究中需要新知识的关键领域，特别是弱势群体，包括传染病/流行病学，神经发育，健康差异和药物流行病学/药物基因组学。继续实施这一方案将培养一支高素质的儿科医生科学家队伍，他们具有解决我国儿童目前面临的一些最重要的卫生保健问题的技能、知识和奉献精神。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is a request for renewal of a T32 training program from the Department of Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Our long term objective is to support the career development of pediatric physician-scientists who will become the future leaders in child health research in vulnerable populations. Such populations include children who are at risk for adverse health outcomes due to intrinsic biologic differences, elevated burdens of disease, or social characteristics such as financial limitations, place of residence, and inability to communicate effectively. The specific aims of this proposal are to identify qualified trainees at the end of residency or early in fellowship training and to provide them with an interdisciplinary research experience in the laboratory of a qualified mentor with adequate resources and space and ready access to unique populations of vulnerable children. To ensure long term success, this experience will be integrated with the Vanderbilt Master of Science in Clinical Investigation and Master of Public Health programs, an applied skills practicum in conducting research in vulnerable populations, and frequent interactions among trainees from multiple disciplines to foster trainees' career development. Highlights since the program was funded in May 2009 include the training of 15 young physician-scientists from neonatology, pediatric infectious diseases, pediatric hematology/oncology, developmental pediatrics, general pediatrics, pediatric cardiology, and pediatric endocrinology. Nine fellows have completed the program, 100% entered into additional research training or academic careers at the end of training. After two fellows left academics for personal reasons during the two years following training, the program modified selection criteria and to date 100% of the more recent graduating fellows remain in academics. The trainees have published 63 manuscripts (4.2 per trainee) and the program's diversity efforts have been quite successful (27% of the trainees came from underrepresented groups). In view of the continued strong applicant pool and the strengths of the program, we propose continued support for three trainees in PGY-5 and three in PGY-6. The program director will utilize an Advisory committee composed of national experts within and external to Vanderbilt University to obtain on-going advice with respect to candidate and mentor selection, scholarly progress of selected candidates and overall success. The proposal is broadly focused within four core disciplines that represent unique and substantial research strengths of Vanderbilt University and that define critical areas of need for new knowledge in child health research on particularly vulnerable populations and include Infectious Diseases/Epidemiology, Neurodevelopment, Health Disparities, and Pharmacoepidemiology/Pharmacogenomics. Continuation of this program will permit the development of a cadre of highly-qualified pediatric physician-scientists with the skills, knowledge and dedication to solve some of the most important health care issues currently facing our nation's children.