The University of Texas-Houston Medical School and School of Public Health in conjunction with the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center propose a joint program to develop successful clinical investigators. This program has the following strengths: 1. Close collaboration between 3 major institutions affiliated with the same university system and located in the largest medical center in the U.S.--a young medical school with progressively increasing grant awards, a strong school of public health (3rd among such schools in total NIH awards), and a large cancer center (2nd in total NCI awards). 2. Highly committed, accomplished, and diverse faculty and Advisory Board The PI is a neonatologist and epidemiologist and the Michelle Bain Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Public Health at UT Houston; the Co-PI is an eminent oncologist and the Ruth Harriet Ainsworth Professor of Developmental Therapeutics, Professor of Medicine, and Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at MD Anderson. The Advisory Board includes the Dean of the School of Public Health; the Vice Presidents of Educational Programs and of Research Administration and the Heads of Medicine and Surgery at MD Anderson; and the Chairmen of Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics, and Integrative Biology (1998 Nobel Prize Winner in Medicine) at the Medical School. 3. A practical and innovative program that includes 1) a comprehensive curriculum taught by successful faculty from all 3 institutions and 2) an intensive mentorship program in which participants each work with a program mentor and a clinical mentor to prepare a research proposal worthy of funding. Participants who successfully complete the program will be certified and provided tuition for further courses at the School of Public Health. 4. A large patient population and resource base for clinical research. Last year, UT Houston had more than 1 million outpatient visits, 233,000 hospital admissions and $108 million in research expenditures; MD Anderson enrolled almost 20,000 new cancer patients and had more than $120 million in research expenditures. 5. A sizable number of participants. We anticipate maintaining >25 participants in the mentorship program each year and a mean of >_80 participants at each session of the curriculum. This program is likely to be cost-effective in developing productive clinical investigators """"""""who are competitive in seeking research support and knowledgeable about the complex issues associated with ... sound clinical research.""""""""
