This application requests support to continue the South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research Institute (SCTR) Training Program in Translational and Team Sciences (TL1) at the Medical University of South Carolina to provide comprehensive training in basic and translational research and team science for eight pre-doctoral trainees. The program existed originally as a successful separate roadmap funded T32 training program that was incorporated into SCTR upon funding by the CTSA. The long-term goals of the training program are: to train translational scientists 1) who will choose a lifelong career in biomedical research spanning the interface between the basic and clinical sciences and 2) who work effectively in interdisciplinary research teams. The program has four specific aims: 1) Optimize our interdisciplinary training program by providing novel didactic, experiential and research experiences such that pre-doctoral trainees will be prepared to think both independently and interdependently (e.g. as members of translational biomedical research teams). 2) Implement new innovative practical experiences focused on translational research that emphasize team building, entrepreneurship, and peer mentoring. 3) Augment the translational research skills of the trainees via the development of a translational research grant application as a required capstone project incorporating the principles and experiences acquired as a TL1 trainee. This includes developing and implementing an Individual Development Plan and using the AAMC mentor-mentee training compact. 4) Utilize a comprehensive evaluation plan incorporating quantitative and qualitative data from multiple sources to drive program improvement. The program emphasizes rigorous research training experiences coupled with a combination of didactic courses, practical experiences and team science experiences. The trainees will learn to work as part of an interdisciplinary team through a combination of courses in team science, a translational research journal club, translational medicine seminars, a core clinical research training course, interactions with KL2 scholars and a ?Month in the Research Nexus?. During the latter experience, the trainees will learn many of the aspects of writing and managing a research grant, with an emphasis on translational research. As the capstone project of the ?Month in the Research Nexus?, trainees write a translational research grant based on their basic research discoveries. Throughout the program, there is an emphasis on translational research and team science. The program is designed to provide opportunities for interactions with the full array of SCTR sponsored programs, KL2 scholars, peer mentoring, professional development and practical experiences. The graduates of this program will become a part of the next generation of translational research scientists who are proficient in and contribute to a team science approach to solve important research questions.
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