Baylor Child Health Research Career Development Award

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The purpose of the Baylor Child Health Research Career Development Award (CHRCDA) is to enhance the academic research and career development of junior faculty in pediatric medicine pursuing academic careers in translational research. We will continue to recruit bright, creative and productive young pediatric researchers from a variety of clinical and scientific backgrounds. The award will allow us to facilitate the development of their research by providing (a) salary support to ensure protected time, (b) research support, and (c) a structured program, with oversight of mentoring by an advisory committee and a didactic curriculum. The didactic curriculum will provide training in grant proposal writing, experimental design, and other areas necessary for a career in translational research. As the aim of the program is to train translational researchers to be able to compete for funding in their own right, during the first year in the program each Scholar will write a K-08 or K-23 grant proposal, and submit it to the NIH in the summer or fall of the second year. Each scholar is mentored through the program, with the mentor participating in many aspects of the program, including an annual Evaluation Retreat, where established physician scientistsfrom around the country come to evaluate the program and review the scholars' research. Acceptance to the program is highly competitive, and is based on the quality of a research proposal developed by the applicant with the help of his or her mentor, the quality of the mentor, and the committee's assessment of the applicant's ability to succeed in the program, write peer-reviewed publications and obtain independent research funding. All applications will be reviewed by the Program Advisory Committee of eight outstanding faculty members, and we anticipate supporting four scholars each year. Over the last 16 years, the CHRCDA has fostered the career development of 53 physician scientists, 36 of whom are current members of the Baylor faculty and another nine of whom are academic pediatricians in other institutions. The program has been highly successful in guiding the research and career development of junior faculty at Baylor College of Medicine. Overall, the CHRCDA has achieved its original goal of fostering research for the benefit of the health of children and is a critical component of the faculty development program in the Department of Pediatrics. This grant proposal seeks to continue this successful program.