I. Overview The mission of the Career Development Core (CDC) is to provide career training for the new generation of environmental health (EH) scientists, to nurture young faculty and foster their transition to independence, and to attract established scientists and integrate their disciplines into the area of EH. The philosophy of the CDC is that career training is a continuum starting with doctoral training (Ph.D./M.D.) and proceeding through postdoctoral training and subsequent development as junior faculty. Thus graduate and postdoctoral training are equally important for the trajectory of EH science (EHS) professionals. Special emphasis is placed on the career training of clinician-scientists who might not otherwise identify their interests in EH. Women and underrepresented minorities are highly sought as participants. Senior investigators will also be attracted to the field by the appeal of the multidisciplinary paradigm championed by the CDC. The CDC fosters translational and clinical careers in EH sciences by involving an interactive group of scientists from multiple UA Colleges, Departments, and Centers of Excellence, all interested in exploring the role of the environment in disease pathogenesis. Exposure of junior investigators to a multidisciplinary culture, close mentoring by basic and clinical scientists, and access to state-of the-art, empowering technologies will ensure the emergence of a new generation of skilled investigators and provide them with an edge that will foster their career progression to seniority. An outstanding track record of productive collaborations renders the CDC faculty uniquely qualified to spearhead the innovative mentoring endeavor proposed herein. The goals of the CDC are (a) to continue to develop our NIEHS-supported graduate training programs in Toxicology and EHS;(b) to submit Training Grants in EHS to benefit both basic and clinician-scientist trainees;(c) to recruit junior faculty as SWEHSC investigators;(d) to further develop mentoring committees and formalized career development plans for junior investigators;(e) to identify candidates that could apply for pilot project funding from the SWEHSC as well as extramural funding in EHS research;and (f) to attract into EHS established investigators from other fields. Each of these components has metrics of success. The CDC has been successful in accomplishing these goals as outlined below.
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