Indiana Pediatric Scientist Award (IPSA)

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT – Indiana Pediatric Scientist Award (IPSA) A critical need exists for training the next generation of physician scientists with formal education and training in child health. Challenges remain in an overall shrinking pipeline of junior faculty and in broadening the racial and gender diversity of the workforce. Without highly trained investigators, who can stretch the limits of current scientific knowledge, the goal of cutting-edge research that will transform child and adolescent health cannot be realized. The Indiana University Department of Pediatrics is uniquely positioned to address this need. A strong, well-established group of basic science investigators in a Departmental Institute have the advantage of being located directly adjacent to Riley Hospital for Children, the only comprehensive children's hospital in the state of Indiana. The Department of Pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) is consistently ranked in the top 10 in NIH funding and its NIH portfolio has more than doubled in the past 8 years. Pediatric researchers at IUSM have established international reputations in the fields of infectious disease, diabetes, Rasopathies and other genetic diseases with an increasing signature of bench to bedside science including repurposing or generating targeted therapeutics. The IUSM and the Riley Children's Foundation have provided extensive resources necessary for the recruitment of distinguished research faculty and the professional development of trainees. This support has allowed a strategic and systematic increase in our entire pipeline development, including a striking increase in K funded junior faculty. Working within this existing strong institutional foundation, we seek support to further expand the development of an internal and externally recruited group of broadly diverse pediatric researchers at IUSM. The main objective of the Indiana University School of Medicine's Indiana Pediatric Scientist Award (IPSA) training program is to provide investigators committed to pursuing careers as academic pediatric physician scientists with a rigorous and individualized mentored research experience that elevates each trainee for competitive individual mentored career awards. The current program is designed specifically for pediatric physician scientists and provides an established blueprint for success, including structured mentorship, guidance, and progressive goals in order to achieve independent funding. Consequently, the IPSA program will provide a customized, multi-disciplinary mentorship with attention to individual learning styles, backgrounds, and interests. Support will allow the IUSM Department of Pediatrics to continue to expand a rapidly growing, multifaceted program and recruit a talented, diverse cohort of pediatric physician-scientist trainees to carry out basic and translational research that will ultimately inform disease pathogenesis and transform health care for children.