The fundamental goal of the Weill Cornell Clinical and Translational Science Center TL1 Training Core Program is to equip pre-doctoral and early post-doctoral trainees, from diverse disciplines, with the skills required to pursue transformative clinical and translational research before their career paths are established. To date, the TL1 Training Program has trained medical and graduate students recruited from all partner institutions. The TL1 trainees are fully integrated into CTSC activities and have access to all services provided by CTSC partners. Building on our successful training program developed over the last 10 years, we will introduce new technologies with an emphasis on team-based research, creativity and entrepreneurship, informatics, and precision medicine. Additionally, we are building more flexibility in training to include an expanded (10 weeks) intensive program for medical students and PhD students, a research experience that will be instrumental in sparking interest and drawing trainees into the world of C/T research. A unique summer program is available for bioengineers to introduce them to clinical research and medicine funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). Externships and mini-sabbaticals with biopharmaceutical companies and government agencies will also enrich trainees? exposure to diverse career options in clinical and translational research. To enhance efficiency, pre-doctoral MD and PhD students and pre-doctoral DSN and DPT students at Hunter College School of Nursing will be eligible for dual degree programs during their doctoral training. Flexibility will be built in allowing rolling entry with PACT approval. In this program, trainees can elect an area of concentration in clinical and translational (C/T) research within the Masters Degree in C/T Investigation after completing the core curriculum and a C/T capstone research project. A short-term clinical summer immersion education program will be offered to biomedical engineering PhD students. The overall program will be enriched with workshops, seminars, and courses in creativity, entrepreneurship, team science and informatics. The enhanced TL1 will leverage the trainees to more rapidly advance in the field of Clinical and Translational Science.
