The long-term goal of the T32 Investigational Cancer Therapeutics Training Program (ICTTP) at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) is to provide highly select medical oncologists with the training necessary to be successful investigators in translating molecular/cytotoxic, immunotherapeutic, and cell-based preclinical advances into clinical trials with the ultimate goal of developing new, approved cancer treatments. The ICTTP contributes substantially to the national interface between preclinical advances and investigative clinical research in humans with cancer. Each year, we select 10 highly committed postdoctoral trainees from the pool of outstanding fellows who have completed 1 year of clinical training in the Medical Oncology/Hematology Fellowship Program at MSKCC. These 10 trainees are supported by this T32 training grant during the first of 2 years dedicated (80% time and effort) to research training. Based on individual research interests and career goals, T32 ICTTP trainees matriculate in the Laboratory-Based Research Mentored Training Program, performing mentored research in the laboratories of established investigators tightly integrated with experimental therapeutic programs, or the Clinical Research Mentored Training Program, in which they are mentored by clinician-scientists performing hypothesis-based prospective clinical research. The T32 ICTTP combines mentored research training with an array of educational courses, including symposia, workshops, and didactic courses that provide a comprehensive research education, preparing trainees to conduct successful, independently supported research at the faculty level. We continue to enhance the program by revising and adding new educational programs in grant and protocol writing, clinical research methodology, and research ethics, as well as conducting continuous review and selection of preceptors that meet strict criteria for research productivity, independent funding, and mentoring. In this submission we have also changed the leadership of the program from Dean Bajorin, MD, to Mark Kris, MD, and Jedd Wolchok, MD, PhD. The T32 ICTTP faculty members lead research programs on cancer genetics, signals and pathways involved in the control of cell proliferation, tumor immunology, immunotherapy, drug development, drug resistance, and clinical therapeutics, among others, so we expect projects conducted by T32 ICTTP trainees in the proposed funding period to cover the spectrum of cancer research with experimental therapeutic intent. In the past 5 years, 94% of T32 ICTTP trainee graduates matriculated to positions at academic institutions or cancer research centers and are engaged in scientific inquiry encompassing laboratory and/or clinical research, evidence of MSKCC's ongoing and vigorous commitment to the successful training of academic medical oncologists.
As the US population ages and national cancer care needs increase, there is a compelling need to educate the next generation of qualified leaders in investigational cancer therapeutics with the ultimate goal of establishing new standards of care. The T32 Investigational Cancer Therapeutics Training Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center trains physician-scientists committed to academic careers so they are well poised to translate molecular/cytotoxic, immunotherapeutic, and cell-based preclinical advances into the experimental trials critical to developing new, approved cancer treatments.
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