Stanford Cancer Imaging Training (SCIT) Program

描述(由申请人提供)：这项提案是对我们长期的斯坦福放射学癌症成像T32培训计划的竞争性续订。Sandy Napel博士和Graham Sommer医学博士将领导这一项目，包括23名拥有独立癌症或相关资金的导师和7名(5名内部/2名外部)杰出项目顾问。为了反映我们扩大的重点，现在包括癌症成像、基于图像的癌症表征和图像引导的癌症治疗，我们将项目名称更改为“斯坦福癌症成像培训(SCIT)计划”，这是一个为期2年的计划，在5年的资助周期内每年培训5名研究员(大约一半是博士/一半是医学博士)。我们强化的必修课程包括2门临床/癌症科学课程，2门成像科学课程，1门生物统计学课程，1门医学伦理学课程(“负责任的研究行为”)，以及至少参加6个多学科肿瘤委员会的课程。此外，学员还可以从斯坦福大学不同系提供的多种选修课中进行选择，例如放射学、放射肿瘤学、生物工程、生物医学信息学和癌症系统生物学。主要的重点是参与一个有指导的癌症成像研究项目，旨在发表在同行评议的期刊上，并在全国会议上发表。我们特别强调“结对导师制”，即每个受训者都与一名基础科学导师和一名内科导师合作，在课程和研究选题方面提供指导。我们的使命一直是，并将继续培训下一代研究人员，以开发和临床翻译先进的癌症成像技术及其应用。此外，我们将从全国范围内招募受训人员，包括女性、来自代表性不足的少数族裔或残疾人士的候选人，以及来自弱势背景的候选人，以增加美国研究人员的多样性。与1993年成立时相比，现在对SCIT的需求更大。自从我们2006年的应用以来，放射学领域发生了翻天覆地的变化，现在比以往任何时候都更在癌症患者的诊断和治疗中发挥着关键作用。我们的部门是少数几个能够响应这一需求并接受现在对基于图像的癌症研究的多学科愿景的部门之一。SCIT将利用斯坦福现有的四个NIH卓越中心：体内细胞和分子成像中心(ICMIC)、癌症纳米技术卓越与转化中心(CCNE-T)、高级磁共振技术中心(CAMRT)和斯坦福癌症系统生物学中心(CCSB)。自1993年以来，我们已成功毕业了32名博士后(医学博士或博士)实习生，他们都在该项目任职期间取得了丰硕成果，许多人至今仍在继续从事癌症成像方面的学术活动。目前的4名学员正在从事乳腺癌的MR成像、纳米颗粒血管生成成像、开发用于癌症诊断和治疗的MR探针以及培育用于癌症的CT和分子成像的先进仪器的研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal is a competing renewal for our longstanding Stanford Radiology cancer-imaging T32 training program. Drs. Sandy Napel, PhD, and Graham Sommer, MD, will lead this program, featuring 23 mentors with independent cancer-focused or -related funding, and 7 (5 internal / 2 external) distinguished program advisors. To reflect our expanded focus, now comprising cancer imaging, image-based cancer characterization, and image-guided cancer treatment, we have changed the program name to "Stanford Cancer Imaging Training (SCIT) Program," a 2-year program training 5 fellows (roughly half PhD / half MD) per year over a 5 year funding cycle. Our strengthened required coursework component includes 2 courses in the clinical/cancer sciences, 2 in imaging science, 1 in biostatistics, 1 in medical ethics ("Responsible Conduct of Research"), and attendance at a minimum of 6 multidisciplinary tumor boards. In addition, trainees can select from a multitude of electives offered by various Stanford University Departments, e.g., Radiology, Radiation Oncology, Bioengineering, Biomedical Informatics, and Cancer Systems Biology. Primary focus is participation in a mentored cancer-imaging research project aimed at publication in peer-reviewed journals, and presentation at National meetings. We especially feature "paired mentorship," in which each trainee is teamed with both a basic-science and physician mentor, to provide guidance in course and research-topic selection. Our mission has been, and continues to be, to train the next generation of researchers in the development and clinical translation of advanced techniques for cancer imaging and its application. In addition, we will recruit our trainees from a nationwide pool including women, candidates from underrepresented minorities or with disabilities, and from disadvantaged backgrounds, so as to increase diversity in the US research workforce. The need for SCIT is even greater now than when it began in 1993. Since our 2006 application, the field of radiology has dramatically changed and now, more than ever, plays a key role in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients. Our Department is one of the very few that has been able to grow in response to this need and embrace what is now a multidisciplinary vision towards image-based cancer research. SCIT will leverage four existing NIH centers of excellence at Stanford: the In Vivo Cellular and Molecular Imaging Center (ICMIC), the Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence and Translation (CCNE-T), the Center for Advanced Magnetic Resonance Technology (CAMRT), and the Stanford Center for Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB). Since 1993, we have successfully graduated 32 postdoctoral (MD or PhD) trainees, all of whom were productive during their tenure in the program and many who continue academic activity in cancer imaging today. The 4 current trainees are pursuing research in MR imaging of breast cancer, angiogenesis imaging with nanoparticles, developing MR probes for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and cultivating advanced instrumentation for CT and molecular imaging of cancer.