The goal of this Stimulating Access to Research in Residency (StARR) program is to recruit, train, and mentor a multidisciplinary group of exceptional postgraduate resident investigators in acquiring rigorous clinical and translational research skills, conducting high-impact, clinically relevant research projects, and launching promising careers as clinician investigators in cardiovascular or pulmonary science. This initiative will build on a large and diverse faculty with expertise in clinical and translational research in cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, a strong institutional track record in multidisciplinary postgraduate research training, and an existing, successful Resident Research Training Program developed by the UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute that provides a strong preliminary foundation for this initiative. Our program will emphasize clinical and translational research, defined broadly to include early translational research involving human subjects or tissues, clinical and epidemiologic investigations, population-based science, and dissemination research to translate scientific findings into real-world settings. We have designed an intensive, 12-month, contiguous StARR program that emphasizes rigorous training in clinical and translational research methods, recognizing that many clinician scholars seeking to pursue clinical or translational research lack formal methodologic training. For the initial stages of this program, we have worked closely with department and residency leaders in internal medicine, pediatrics, and anesthesia to develop a detailed plan for recruiting and selecting the most promising resident investigators, enhancing their research training and career development opportunities, cultivating their relationships with experienced faculty research mentors, and guiding them in obtaining future competitive research funding, while simultaneously fulfilling all necessary board credentialing requirements.
Our aims are to: 1) recruit and train 3 clinical residents annually with the potential and commitment to become successful clinical and translational researchers in cardiovascular or pulmonary science; 2) guide these residents in obtaining more advanced methodological, analytic, and collaborative research skills appropriate for their level of training; 3) create and support effective, influential, and long-lasting research mentor relationships during and after residency; and 4) guide resident scholars in successfully competing for other forms of clinical and translational research support that will pave the way for them to pursue long-term clinical and translational science careers.
This Stimulating Access to Research in Residency program is designed to provide clinical residents with the tools, mentorship, and support necessary to launch careers in research at a time when their emerging patient care responsibilities may be awakening a new appreciation for the need for clinically-relevant scientific investigation. As such, it addresses the need for clinician scientists who combine first-hand perspective on the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of heart and lung diseases with the methodologic, collaborative, and leadership skills necessary to advance scientific understanding in these fields.
