The Clinical Scholars Program at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute provides advanced training for medical and surgical oncology fellows. The overall goal of the Clinical Scholars Programs is to develop clinical investigators. There are two tracks within the Clinical Scholars Program, a clinical investigator track and a translational investigator track, both aimed at facilitating translational cancer research. Each track has two components consisting of didactic training as well as clinical research training in focused areas of cancer research. The didactic component of the Clinical investigator track provides a formal and applied experience in clinical research methods culminating in a Master?s of Science degree in Public Health. Didactic training programs in graduate level courses in molecular biology and immunology are individually tailored for the needs of Clinical Scholars electing the translational investigator track. Clinical rotations in Experimental Therapeutics are required for all Clinical Scholars including the Phase I/II Clinical Research Unit, Clinical Pharmacology, and Translational Research Laboratory. Clinical Research training is focused on three areas: Experimental Therapeutics, Geriatric Oncology, and Health Outcomes Research. The Experimental Therapeutics program links hypothesis-driven research focused on molecular mechanisms of disease pathogenesis with innovative clinical trials. The goal of the Geriatric Oncology program is to develop translational and clinical research in the interaction of cancer and aging. Ongoing research initiatives include geriatric cancer pharmacology and health outcomes research. The goal of the Health Outcomes research group is to provide high quality efficient healthcare by fostering interdisciplinary research in health economics, health policy outcome analysis, and health care delivery. Fellows completing the Clinical Scholars Program will be well trained to expedite translational research, perform innovative hypothesis-driven clinical research, and manage all phases of clinical trial research.
