The purpose of our Training Program in GI Epidemiology is to develop academic gastroenterologists trained in the design and execution of clinical research. This is the second competitive renewal application of our uniquely-focused program, which is one of only three GI Epidemiology Training Programs in the US. With this training, these GI fellows become junior faculty who successfully compete for external funding. Since inception in 2002, 10 trainees have completed this program: 80% (8/10) accepted tenure-track positions at academic medical centers and 70% successfully applied for foundation or federal career development awards. (Our most recent trainee will be interviewing for a tenure-track position.) Support is requested for 2 post-doctoral trainees (i.e., gastroenterology fellows) with each post-doctoral trainee completing two years of training. The goals of the Training Program in GI Epidemiology are: (a) Completion of a MSc degree focused on the design and execution of clinical research;(b) Completion of a focused GI Epidemiology seminar series and a comprehensive clinical epidemiology/health care policy seminar series;(c) Successful design, execution, and publication of multiple clinical research projects under the guidance of a team of mentors, including methodology experts (e.g., epidemiologists) and content experts (e.g., gastroenterologists);and, (d) Preparation of a career development award grant application to provide transitional funding and facilitate an independent career in academic medicine and research. Each trainee focuses on a specific issue (e.g., impact of IL-28b polymorphism on treatment of HCV) and completes three projects: (a) a meta-analysis;(b) a retrospective database study;and, (c) design of a prospective trial. These projects provide the foundation and preliminary data for the career development award grant application. The environment at the University of Michigan has vast resources from multiple centers and research institutes. These resources include the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, Ann Arbor VA Center for Clinical Management Research (VA Center of Excellence for Health Services Research &Development), and the Michigan Institute of Clinical &Health Research (MICHR). Our multi-disciplinary faculty includes expert biostatisticians, epidemiologists, and outcomes researchers from the Divisions of General Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology. Most faculty are federally funded for their on-going research, and these faculty offer a broad spectrum of research expertise with multiple levels of established collaboration and many years of experience mentoring trainees.
Gastroenterologists trained to perform translational and clinical research are needed to translate new discoveries in basic science into better patient care. Since this program began in 2002, our trainees have fulfilled this need: 80% of our trainees have transitioned to become gastroenterologists at academic medical centers and these physicians have successfully applied for multiple research grants while producing numerous publications about their work. Therefore, we believe that our track record demonstrates the success of our program, which is supported by superb faculty and tremendous resources at the University of Michigan. Support is requested for 2 postdoctoral trainees per year who are selected from our gastroenterology fellowship program.
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