Short-Term Research training In Vision and Eye health (STRIVE)

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The overall objective of the T35 Short-Term Research In Vision & Eye health (STRIVE) Program is to develop well qualified medical students who will ultimately become ophthalmology clinician scientists to effectively contribute to translational eye and vision research. The proposed program is designed to expand and diversify the pipeline of new physician investigators in ophthalmology. The program will provide full-time support for 8-12 consecutive weeks of research and clinical training during the summer for 8 qualifying medical students per year from across the country. We will make special efforts to recruit students from underrepresented racial or ethnic minority groups, those with disabilities, and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The program builds on the exceptional training record of faculty from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine (ranked in the top 96th percentile for NIH Training grants) in general, and the UCSD Viterbi Family Department of Ophthalmology and Shiley Eye Institute in particular. Moreover, UCSD is highly collaborative with strong programmatic support for the translation of research from bench to bedside in areas such as genetics/proteomics, clinical research, bioengineering, ophthalmic imaging and image analysis, drug delivery, and biomedical informatics. The most important aspects of this program will be hands-on research experience and development of a long-term mentoring relationship. The multi-disciplinary research training experience will also include didactic instruction appropriate to the area being studied, professional development seminars, lectures and journal clubs in various disciplines. Instruction in biostatistics, research ethics, leadership, presentation skills, and grant writing will also supplement the direct research experience. The trainees will give poster and oral presentations at a Summer Research Symposium and will work with mentors to develop their work for subsequent presentation at national conferences. The administrative structure of the training program includes Co-PIs/PDs Sally Baxter, MD, MSc and Linda Zangwill, PhD, and an Executive Committee that includes the department chair, vice chair of education, and residency program director. In addition, an External Advisory Committee consisting of experienced short-term training grant leaders will provide independent guidance. There will be a rigorous and extensive evaluation of the program. Online forums, including a website and social media outlets, will be used to facilitate continued communication between trainees, alumni, and participating faculty.