The purpose of this Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Program Award (MCSDPA) is to support career development experiences for UCLA geriatrics clinician-scientists that will lead to research independence. The major theme of the MCSDPA is health services research and clinical epidemiology. The Program will be led by a senior geriatrician clinician-scientist and guided by an Advisory Committee whose functions will include: recruitment of potential candidates, selection of awardees, ongoing monitoring of awardee progress, and mentorship. Candidates will be drawn from an extensive geriatrics training stream stretching from medical school to research training fellowships. Mentors will include UCLA faculty who have research interests in aging. For each award recipient, a Mentoring Committee similar to a doctoral committee will be established to monitor the awardee's progress. The recruitment process has already begun with the identification of one continuing awardee and five other highly qualified potential candidates described in this application. The Program will also recruit both locally and nationally to fill the positions. Selection will of awardees will be conducted through an intensive peer-review process, including full written proposals, interviews, and review by the entire Advisory Committee. Selection criteria will include: previous training and credentials of candidate, scientific merit of research plan, quality of individual career development plan, qualifications of mentor, and likelihood of candidate's obtaining future independent funding. The overall structure for career development will include three major components: research conducted in a structured, intensively mentored environment; research training experiences shared by all awardees; and research training that is tailored to the individual awardee. Common experiences will include: a clinical research course, a course on the responsible conduct of research, a seminar series on academic skills, a research seminar devoted solely to UCLA career development awardees, a seminar on practical aspects of conducting research, and individual critique of written and oral presentations of awardees work by a cadre of senior investigators. At the conclusion of MCSDPA support, we expect every trainee to have submitted research proposals for extramural funding and to be successful in competing for such funding. We also expect the training environment created by the MCSDPA to facilitate independence for junior faculty in aging who do not directly receive MCSDPA support.
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