In response to national efforts to improve the quality of education in clinical research, the Woodruff Health SciencesCenter of Emory University requests renewal of K-30 grant funding to support a postgraduate education program forclinical investigators.
The specific aim i s to sustain and continue to develop an outstanding didactic and mentoredprogram, so that upon completion of training, clinical investigators can more effectively conduct clinical research andcompete successfully for research funding. Recognized as an institution of excellence in clinical medicine, Emory has made a strong commitment to clinicalresearch career development. To provide formal postgraduate education in clinical research, a Master of Science inClinical Research (MSCR) degree and clinical research curriculum award (CRCA) program has been established and theprogram has enrolled or graduated 49 participants. Currently, 27 are graduates or in thesis status anticipating graduationin Spring, 2004, 11 students are in the current class and the remaining 11 have taken courses in special status. Theparticipants represent a broad spectrum of clinical backgrounds. Currently, the 49 participants of Emory's CRCA/MSCRprogram have collectively received as PI or Co-PI over 65 new awards totaling over $13.5 million, including 19 NIHawards as Pi and 17 other NIH awards. The program has evolved through continuing student, faculty, executive andadvisory committee input to include changes to the curriculum and faculty, rotations in the Emory General ClinicalResearch Center, and Emory Institutional Review Board and enhancements to the grant writing and ethics courses.Emory's NIH K-12 Emory Mentored Clinical Research Scholars award, NIH Fogarty and other innovative student supportprograms have enhanced student enrollment. The CRCA/MSCR program represents a strong collaboration between the Emory Schools of Medicine and PublicHealth and has the enthusiastic support of the Emory administration and faculty. Participants in this program come from alarge pool of over 1,200 graduate clinicians in postdoctoral fellowships, junior faculty and other doctorally preparedindividuals committed to clinical research. The curriculum of the CRCA/MSCR program emphasizes analytic sciencesincluding statistical reasoning, decision analysis, probability theory, analytic epidemiology and informatics; the principlesof bioethics, clinical trials design, regulations involving human subjects, scientific writing, the responsible conduct ofclinical research; and the integration of the basic sciences into clinical research. Important new features of the programare the expanded leadership of the CRCA/MSCR, increased emphasis on faculty mentoring and the mentored thesis inclinical research, the expanded special curriculum of the CRCA program, the use of the CRCA to promote clinicalresearch education at Emory University and in Atlanta and the model for ongoing program assessment
| Ziemer, David C; El-Kebbi, Imad M; Umpierrez, Guillermo E et al. (2008) Diabetes management in urban African Americans: review of a public hospital experience. Ethn Dis 18:336-41 |
| Lea, Janice; Cheek, Deanna; Thornley-Brown, Denise et al. (2008) Metabolic syndrome, proteinuria, and the risk of progressive CKD in hypertensive African Americans. Am J Kidney Dis 51:732-40 |
