The overall goal of the University of Chicago K12 program in Oncology is to produce the next generation of highly skilled academic Oncologists who are capable of designing and administering hypothesis-driven pilot/Phase I, Phase II and Phase III cancer therapeutic trials and observational studies. To do this, we have created a tightly structured and mentored education program within an academically rigorous training environment that prepares the most compelling applicants for careers in academic oncology. The program is anchored within our Comprehensive Cancer Center and led by Olufunmilayo Olopade, MD along with Everett Vokes, MD with strong support from an Executive Committee as well as Internal and External Advisory Committees. The Paul Calabresi K12 Scholars Program is our highly mentored, didactic coursework-intensive program, and hands on clinical research training which results in a Master of Science in Health Studies/Clinical Investigations. Leveraging resources across the University, we have created a set of integrated interdisciplinary courses in translational science that blends genomics, social sciences, community based, clinical- and bio-informatics, and population studies. In its 1st funding cycle, the program has been successful in recruiting 5 Medical Oncologists, 2 Surgical Oncologists and 4 PhD Scientists who obtain the broad research training and comprehensive experience necessary to conduct patient-oriented cancer therapeutic research in team research environments, and to focus their research endeavors on patient-oriented research. An explicit goal of this Paul Calabresi Scholars program, as with all training programs in our institution, is that its training opportunities and benefits will extend far beyond the relatively few scholars whose stipends it will provide. The program has had a transformative and global impact and is reaching into the larger global oncology trainee community in Chicago and to young oncologists from other countries who come to train at our Institution as Global Health Scholars. Thus, the benefit that accrues from the program's implementation is substantial.
The K12 in Oncology at the University of Chicago is a distinct pathway for training junior faculty, primarily physicians and PhD scientists in patient-oriented research. The Paul Calabresi Scholars program is a highly structured mentoring, didactic coursework-intensive, and 'hands on' clinical research training, which, results in a Master of Science in Health Studies/Clinical Investigations. These scholars are typically clinical oncologists finishing fellowship training, clinical faculty who wish to change career emphasis, or scientists with health- related PhD who wish to work in the clinical sphere. The strength of our clinical programs coupled with our research intensity and our focus on genetics/genomics and experimental therapeutics makes the University of Chicago an ideal institution for the preparation of a clinical oncology workforce for the era of precision medicine in Oncology.
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