The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) was designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute in 1973. Two years later, in 1975, the Institute was initially awarded an Institutional National Research Service Award (T32 CAO9172) by the National Cancer Institute. Since that time, 229 individuals have been supported by this grant and this funding mechanism has become an essential component in the ability of the Institute to develop clinical investigators. The purpose of this proposal is to request continued support for another five years to provide research training in a comprehensive cancer center for postgraduate physicians who desire a career in academic oncology. The specific purpose of this application is to offer an experience in clinical or laboratory investigation to highly selected clinicians who have completed their training in medical or pediatric oncology. The availability of a wide spectrum of laboratories within the DFCI offers an unusually fertile environment for the exchange of ideas and for collaboration in the design of research programs. Training will continue to be provided through regularly scheduled lectures, clinical and research conferences, and """"""""bench laboratory activities"""""""". Trainees will also be required to participate in the """"""""Harvard Program in the Practice of Scientific Investigation."""""""" as a means of providing instruction in medical ethics and scientific integrity. The research facilities of the DPCI continue to mature with construction well underway for an additional laboratory building, the Richard A. and Susan P. Smith Research laboratories, scheduled for occupancy early in 1998, which will provide six floors for finished research laboratory space as well as animal research laboratories, research administration, and support functions. Twenty-five separate divisions and/or laboratories including Medical and Pediatric Oncology, Cancer Epidemiology and Control, Biostatistics, Hematologic Malignancies, Tumor Immunology, Cancer Pharmacology, Cell Growth and Regulation, Neoplastic Disease Mechanisms, and Human Cancer Genetics offer a wide panoply of investigative opportunities. Trainees supported by this proposal are able to select from among all of these laboratories as to the area in which they wish to conduct their research. All members of the Institute staff hold faculty appointments at Harvard University and participate in classroom presentations in laboratory and clinical research training. In addition to training support provided by this institutional grant, DFCI investigators also participate in pre and postdoctoral training programs at Harvard University through their departmental faculty appointments or at neighboring Harvard-affiliated hospitals. The goal of this program is to encourage the development of academic oncologists. It is expected that at the conclusion of their training, those individuals supported by this program will have the capability for designing, initiating, and completing individual research projects, independently or with minimal supervision, and soon thereafter will be able to establish themselves as independent research investigators. As in the past, it is anticipated that some will remain at the DFCI upon successfully completing their training and will eventually become permanent members of the Institute's research staff.
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