Developing Diverse Physician-Investigator Leaders for the Future of Child Health

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ABSTRACT Early stage pediatric faculty members, even those who have potential for success as academic investigators based upon substantial experience in basic research, will require further intensive training and mentoring in basic research to successfully embark upon an independent research career. Our proposed Child Health Research Career Development Award (CHRCDA) Program entitled “Developing Diverse Physician-Investigator Leaders for the Future of Child Health” will provide a cutting-edge research opportunities, combined with a carefully constructed mentoring and career development pathway, to enable our Scholars to emerge as leaders among the ranks of pediatric academic investigators. The basic biomedical research training community at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) has a long-established reputation of excellence, and UCSD Pediatrics now ranks in the top five in NIH research funding of all Pediatric Departments in the country. Notably, the last 5-10 years have witnessed an impressive academic expansion within of the UCSD Department of Pediatrics and the research it conducts, coupled with the formalization of its partnership with Rady Children's Hospital San Diego, the largest Children's Hospital in California. The key objectives of our CHRCDA are as follows: (1) To increase the number Pediatrician-Scientists engaged in basic research as applied to children's health; (2) to attract outstanding young pediatricians to UCSD and to facilitate their career development under the guidance of world class, established investigator-faculty mentors; and (3) to cultivate the early careers of women and minority investigators in children's health. With close input from the program pioneers in our Department, CHRCDA Scholars will participate fully in the program of UCSD National Center for Leadership in Academic Medicine (NCLAM), a longstanding and highly successful junior faculty mentoring program in UC Health Sciences that provides workshops and longitudinal mentoring in all facets required for successful advancement in academic medicine, and diversity enrichment modules including the Border Health and Doc-for-A-Day programs. All CHRCDA program faculty mentors are highly regarded scientific investigators, each leading a vibrant and cutting-edge basic or basic/translational research program of strong relevance to pediatric medicine. Research training opportunities for CHRCDA Scholars are organized into six research themes of five members each, which an integral role in the program structure, curriculum and mentorship approach: (1) Genomics, Big Data & Systems Biology; (2) Infection, Immunity & Inflammation; (3) Organ Physiology & Metabolism; (4) Neuroscience & Brain Development; (5) Human Microbiome & Child Health; and (6) Developmental & Stem Cell Biology. A guiding philosophy of this CHRCDA will be to support the greatest possible number of young physician-scientists within this Program, and an additional year of Department-funded support has been added to three years of K12 support to create a vibrant program with one new Scholar per year and four fellows total in the steady state.