This renewal proposal requests five additional years of support (years 33-38) for the University of California, Los Angeles Training Grant in Gastroenterology. Support is sought to maintain the trainees at the same level: six (either MD's or PhD's) and one additional minority candidate, for a total of seven positions per year. These trainees will be from the UCLA STAR (Specialized Training in Academic Research), the Affiliated UCLA Training Program in Gastroenterology, or from Affiliated Ph.D. training programs. This Training Grant has been funded continuously since 1974, and Dennis M. Jensen, M.D. has been the P.I./Director since 2000. During the last 10 years of this grant, 26 trainees have been enrolled in the program, 19 have completed training, and 7 will continue in the program after July 1, 2005. Of those who will have completed the program by June 30, 2005, 19 (100%) completed at least 1 1/2 years of research training, 89% completed 2 or more years of research training, 95% published at least one peer-reviewed research paper, and 84% obtained additional research training support or funding. In all, 14 (74%) have been a Principal Investigator of one or more NIH funded training or research grants, 2 (11%) have been awarded Veterans Administration research or career development grants, and 3 (16%) have been awarded other career development grants (CCFA or Cal Cancer Research Institute). In all, 16 (84%) have received such additional independent peer-reviewed funding. Among the 17 trainees who have completed their post-MD training, 14 (82%) hold academic positions and 1 (6%) holds a senior pharmaceutical position for a total of 88% in such leadership positions. The administrative structure of the Training Grant has evolved during the past five years to maximize productivity and satisfaction plus emphasize successful career paths for virtually all trainees. The leadership of this training grant is well balanced. The PI is a clinical and outcomes researcher, one co-PI is a basic scientist (Stephen Pandol, MD), and the other is a translational researcher (Peter Anton, MD). The Digestive Diseases Research Training Executive Committee ensures that all research trainees are closely supervised throughout their career development and are exposed to formal courses and research seminars to expand their scientific knowledge base. The UCLA STAR program has the added dimension of requiring Masters or Ph.D. degrees as part of the research training and career development. This training serves as the foundation and model for a highly evolved and successful UCLA Research Training Program in Gastroenterology. Continued support is needed to maintain the quality and productivity of this program which is training future academicians in digestive diseases.
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