Training the next generation of health scientists to transform discoveries into benefits for clinical care will require a strong research foundation adjoined to pioneering training programs that provide well-designed lessons in innovation and entrepreneurship. Here, we propose a new NRSA Training Core, the Health Sciences Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HSIE) Training Program, as a component of the CTSA application submitted by our Translational Research Institute (TRI). Basic skills of entrepreneurial team science will be taught to two predoctoral and three postdoctoral fellow entrants each year, who exhibit a passion for transforming biomedical discoveries into new medications, devices, diagnostics and clinical practices. The interdisciplinary HSIE Training Program will supplement traditional department-based research training and engage scholars from the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Public Health. Sixty-six of the most innovative faculty across our hub, many involved in entrepreneurial activities, will serve on HSIE Scholar Advisory Committees with the trainee?s primary research mentor. Individual development plans will be formulated and harmonized with career goals. The core of the 2-year HSIE Training Program is a 15-credit Graduate Certificate in Health Science Innovation and Entrepreneurship. HSIE Scholars will shadow health science innovators during the first semester with ?Snapshot Sessions? providing scholars with experiences tailored to their career interests including internships and learning opportunities. The HSIE Training Program will sponsor a 2-credit seminar series, ?Health Science Entrepreneurs: Innovators of Health Care?, in partnership with the Alabama, Kansas and Utah CTSAs. These seminars will increase entrepreneurial activity across hubs by heightening awareness of steps required to translate new discoveries into improved health care, and offer HSIE Scholars opportunities to interact with national entrepreneurs. Three 3-credit courses will be offered in the evening via interactive audiovideo-conferencing by the Graduate Entrepreneurship Program in the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas - Fayetteville. After learning business principles, a Capstone Project is a gateway for teams of inter-disciplinary scholars to develop a business plan for translating a biomedical discovery into a health care product or service. Embracing the concept that team science will advance biomedical discoveries into improved clinical care and community health, the HSIE Training Program plays a critical role in our hub?s vision to be a thriving translational research ecosystem that catalyzes discoveries into health solutions for rural and under-represented populations.
