Curriculum for Patient-Oriented Clinical Cancer Research

描述(由申请人提供)： 由于缺乏有效的癌症早期诊断、预防和治疗的新方法，预计以患者为中心的癌症研究--一个由训练有素的专业人员进行直接涉及患者或高危个人的研究的学科--将在癌症领域带来下一个重大进展。事实上，越来越多的人认识到，训练有素、以病人为导向的癌症研究科学家对于转化过程--即将基础科学实验室获得的大量知识应用于临床--至关重要。同样重要的是对患者疾病的科学、假设驱动的调查，这直接导致在人类癌症的生物学、病理生理学和自然历史方面的发现。也许最重要的是确定治疗和随后预防人类疾病的创新战略，这些战略可以由那些训练有素、以病人为导向的研究科学家来制定。显然，这一研究学科需要专门的、更全面的教育，包括分子和细胞生物学、药理学、临床试验设计和生物统计学，特别适用于癌症，这是一种具有极大异质性和复杂性的毁灭性疾病。但这样的教育项目并不常见，因此，以患者为中心的癌症研究学科目前代表不足。认识到下一代癌症研究人员的重要性，德克萨斯大学安德森癌症中心面向患者的临床癌症研究计划课程的目的是开发一个有效的培训计划，培养出训练有素的癌症研究人员，有效地弥合实验室和患者床边之间的差距。该培训计划将提供为期两年的一系列最先进的、相关的讲授讲座，重点是肿瘤学、指导研究经验和指导计划，以准备拨款、手稿和方案。参与该计划将向住院医生、研究员、教职员工和研究生开放，他们的职业目标是在学术上以患者为导向的癌症研究成果。该项目的毕业生将接受必要的培训，以进行假说驱动的癌症研究，通过在同行评议的期刊和公开演讲上发表文章向癌症社区传播这项研究的结果，并获得同行评议的资金来支持他们的工作。这些确实是这位成功的学术研究人员的标志，他将在癌症的诊断、预防和治疗方面取得下一步重大进展。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): With the paucity of effective new approaches for early diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cancer, it is anticipated that patient-oriented cancer research, a research discipline in which highly-trained professionals conduct research that directly involves patients or high-risk individuals, will lead to the next significant advances in the cancer field. Indeed, there is increasing recognition that the highly-trained patient-oriented cancer research scientist is essential to the translational process; i.e., application of the enormous knowledge obtained in the basic science laboratory to the clinic. Also important is the scientific, hypothesis-driven investigation of disease in the patient that leads directly to discoveries in the biology, pathophysiology and natural history of cancer in man. Perhaps most significant is the identification of innovative strategies for treatment and subsequent prevention of human disease which can be developed by those highly-trained patient-oriented research scientists. It is clear that this research discipline requires a specialized, more thorough education which encompasses molecular and cellular biology, pharmacology, clinical trial design, and biostatistics, as applied specifically to cancer, a devastating disease of tremendous heterogeneity and complexity. But such an educational program is not common and, therefore, the discipline of patient-oriented cancer research is under-represented at present. Recognizing the importance of this next generation of cancer researchers, it is the purpose of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Curriculum for Patient-Oriented Clinical Cancer Research Program to develop an effective training program that leads to highly-trained cancer researchers who will effectively bridge the gap between the laboratory bench and the patient bedside. This training program will provide a two-year series of state-of-the-art, relevant didactic lectures focused on oncology, mentored research experiences, and mentored programs for preparing grants, manuscripts, and protocols. Participation in the program will be open to residents, fellows, faculty, and graduate students whose career goals are oriented towards achievement in academic patient-oriented cancer research. Graduates of the program will have received the training necessary to conduct hypothesis-driven cancer research, disseminate the results of this research to the cancer community through publication in peer-reviewed journals and public presentations, and obtain peer-reviewed funding to support their work. These are indeed the hallmarks of the successful academic researcher who will make the next major advances in diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cancer.