This proposal will support a new, centralized and integrated, rigorous, structured two-year program of graduate training in patient-oriented translational investigation at the University of California, Los Angeles, and affiliated institutions, building on the strengths of our research initiatives. The Graduate Training Program in Translational Investigation (UCLA GTPTI) is a cohesive and cross-disciplinary program that grows from a rich history of collaborative research and training efforts of the UCLA Schools of Medicine, Public Health, Dentistry, Nursing, the UCLA College of Letters and Science, the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, the RAND Graduate School, and from the federally-funded GCRCs at UCLA, Harbor-UCLA, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and Martin Luther King-Drew Medical Center. Participants will be recruited from existing training grants, specialty training programs, and junior faculty. An admissions committee will select 20 highly qualified candidates for admission in the first year. There is a core of knowledge and skills common to all areas of clinical research that will form the foundation of the program. This new core curriculum will lead to a Certificate in Clinical Research to those completing 24 credits, or to a Masters in Clinical Research to those completing 48 credits and a dissertation paper. The curriculum will consist of a newly integrated combination of two existing successful clinical research training initiatives and three new curricular elements. This initial curriculum will be evaluated after each year and further developed to meet the needs of the trainees. This program aims to prepare highly qualified patient-oriented investigators who can rigorously, responsibly, and ethically (I) use the tools of contemporary biology to translate to the clinical research arena novel developments in bench research, (2) use existing data to generate testable hypotheses in a clinical setting, (3) obtain peer-reviewed funding to support such investigation and (4) publish the results of their studies in high-quality journals. To achieve these aims this program will provide in-depth instruction in the following areas: (I) ethics in clinical investigation, (2) research methods and research design, including clinical trials, compliance reviews, measuring outcomes, and biostatistics with emphasis on data collection and analysis in clinical trials/epidemiologic surveys and epidemiology, (3) research funding, (4) clinical pharmacology and pharmacogenetics, (5) key topics in translational investigation, (6) research in ethnic minorities, (7) regulatory issues, (8) scientific writing and publishing and (9) mentoring. An important component of the program is a structured outcome assessment that will permit the program to assess its effectiveness and to adjust to the training and career needs of individual trainees. Trainees will attend all components of the structured didactic program and will be able to further access these through the Internet. Participants will work with one GTPTI advisor, other than their research advisor, who will advise and support them throughout the program. The GTPTI will give emphasis to minority populations, by both actively recruiting minority clinicians to our program, and by offering specific training on the conduct of research in ethnic minorities. Southern California is the most ethnically diverse area of the country. The GTPTI will be directed by Dr. Julio Licinio, a leading Hispanic physician- investigator, who is founding editor of two Nature Publishing Group journals, Molecular Psychiatry and The Pharmacogenomics Journal, and will incorporate the minority trainees of the Charles Drew School of Medicine and Science.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Type
Clinical Research Curriculum Award (CRCA) (K30)
Project #
5K30HL004526-04
Application #
6642111
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZHL1-CSR-F (S3))
Program Officer
Friedman, Lawerence
Project Start
2000-09-30
Project End
2005-08-31
Budget Start
2003-09-01
Budget End
2004-08-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$197,765
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Los Angeles
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
092530369
City
Los Angeles
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
90095
Licinio, J; Negrao, A B; Wong, M-L (2014) Plasma leptin concentrations are highly correlated to emotional states throughout the day. Transl Psychiatry 4:e475
Wong, Ma-Li; Whelan, Fiona; Deloukas, Panagiotis et al. (2006) Phosphodiesterase genes are associated with susceptibility to major depression and antidepressant treatment response. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103:15124-9
Milane, Michael S; Suchard, Marc A; Wong, Ma-Li et al. (2006) Modeling of the temporal patterns of fluoxetine prescriptions and suicide rates in the United States. PLoS Med 3:e190
Matochik, John A; London, Edythe D; Yildiz, Bulent O et al. (2005) Effect of leptin replacement on brain structure in genetically leptin-deficient adults. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 90:2851-4
Irizarry, K J L; Merriman, B; Bahamonde, M E et al. (2005) The evolution of signaling complexity suggests a mechanism for reducing the genomic search space in human association studies. Mol Psychiatry 10:14-26
Licinio, Julio; Caglayan, Sinan; Ozata, Metin et al. (2004) Phenotypic effects of leptin replacement on morbid obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypogonadism, and behavior in leptin-deficient adults. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 101:4531-6
Licinio, J; O'Kirwan, F; Irizarry, K et al. (2004) Association of a corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1 haplotype and antidepressant treatment response in Mexican-Americans. Mol Psychiatry 9:1075-82
Kirchheiner, J; Nickchen, K; Bauer, M et al. (2004) Pharmacogenetics of antidepressants and antipsychotics: the contribution of allelic variations to the phenotype of drug response. Mol Psychiatry 9:442-73
Yildiz, Bulent O; Suchard, Marc A; Wong, Ma-Li et al. (2004) Alterations in the dynamics of circulating ghrelin, adiponectin, and leptin in human obesity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 101:10434-9
Hiroi, N; Wong, M L; Licinio, J et al. (2001) Expression of corticotropin releasing hormone receptors type I and type II mRNA in suicide victims and controls. Mol Psychiatry 6:540-6