This competing renewal for a Child Health Research Center has as its principal goal the training of highly-skilled pediatric scientists focused on the broad field of developmental biology. CHRC Scholars, drawn largely from the pool of residents and fellows at Children's Hospital, will be individuals with outstanding promise for research who exhibit exceptional motivation, intelligence and potential for creativity, as well as a serious commitment to a career at the interface of research and clinical pediatrics. A formal program of minority recruitment, closely associate with that of Harvard Medical School, will ensure that highly qualified physician-scientists from underrepresented minority groups are recruited and successfully established in laboratory-based careers. Scholars will receive comprehensive training in the laboratories of senior faculty mentors whose work is in the vanguard of their fields, and who have substantial experience developing the careers of young scientists. These faculty include Established Investigators based in the Enders Research Laboratories and Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Children's Hospital, and associate faculty at Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Harvard University and the Cancer Center and Whitehead Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A new feature of this competing renewal is the opportunity for Scholars to participate in translational research that bridges bench and clinical research. Scholars' research activities will be complemented by didactic courses, research seminars and journal clubs to help them develop a solid base of scientific knowledge and skills for critical reading of the literature. Advanced training in experimental investigation will prepare Scholars to compete effectively for independent grant support from the National Institutes of Health and major private foundations such as the Markey and Pew, and ultimately to assume positions of leadership in pediatrics and pediatric research.
