Numerous authorities have highlighted the endangered pipeline of physician-scientists and in particular the challenges faced by an even rarer breed - the neurosurgeon-scientist. These challenges are myriad and increasing, and include expanding bureaucracy, greater clinical demands, diminishing research time, rapid pace of advancement in basic science, and limited funding for research training. The mission of the WUSM Department of Neurosurgery, its Residency Training Program, and the Neurosurgery Research Education Program proposed in this grant is to train and develop the future generation of neurosurgeon-scientists so that they can not only contribute to but also lead new discoveries in basic, translational, and clinical neuroscience. The structure of this R25 program incorporates several strategic enhancements to an already robust neurosurgery resident research program such that resident participants will be extremely well prepared to obtain the best junior faculty positions in the country and subsequently secure extramural funding including K series career development awards. An excellent institutional environment for neuroscience research and education in the Department of Neurosurgery and allied Clinical and Basic Science Departments supports this training program. The neurosurgery department at Washington University has a long and distinguished track record of training academic neurosurgeons spanning many decades. This success has been particularly strong over the past 10 years, with over 60% of graduates entering academic practice and nearly 20% of graduates becoming successful NIH-funded neurosurgeon-scientists. The proposed Neurosurgery Research Education Program leverages our past educational experiences and the strong neuroscience community at Washington University in order to develop an enhanced and distinct research training track specifically for neurosurgeons who are inclined to pursue academic careers as independent researchers, with the overall long-term goal of ensuring that highly-trained neurosurgeon-scientists will be available to make future advances that will lead to a reduction in the burden of neurological diseases.
There is a critical need for well-trained neurosurgeon-scientists to conduct basic, clinical, and translational research that could potentially lead to improvements in the treatment or cure of neurological disorders. These individuals occupy a unique space working at the interface between clinical medicine and scientific discovery. The immediate goal of the proposed Washington University in St. Louis Neurosurgery Research Education Program is to train neurosurgery residents/fellows in either basic or clinical science research, so as to foster their academic success and development into independent physician-scientists who can further our understanding of the mechanisms, etiology, and treatment of neurological diseases.
