The goal of this Stimulating Access to Research in Residency (StARR) program is to recruit, train, and mentor a select group of exceptional postgraduate resident investigators from diverse clinical departments in acquiring rigorous clinical and translational research skills, conducting high-impact research projects relevant to aging, and launching promising careers in clinical or translational aging science. This initiative will build on a large and diverse faculty with expertise in aging research, a strong institutional track record in multidisciplinary postgraduate research training, and an existing, successful Resident Research Training Program developed by the UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute that has previously guided over a thousand residents in completing short-term clinical or translational research projects over the past decade. Our program will emphasize clinical and translational research, defined broadly to include early translational science, clinical and epidemiologic investigations, population-based science, and dissemination research to translate scientific findings into real-world settings. We have designed an intensive, 12-month, contiguous StARR program that emphasizes rigorous training in clinical and translational research methods, recognizing that many clinician scholars seeking to pursue clinical or translational research lack formal methodologic training. For the initial stages of this program, we have worked closely with department and residency leaders in internal medicine, neurology, psychiatry, anesthesia, general surgery, urology, orthopaedic surgery, and gynecology to develop a detailed plan for recruiting and selecting the most promising resident investigators from these fields, enhancing their research training and career development opportunities, cultivating their relationships with experienced faculty mentors in aging research, and guiding them in obtaining future competitive research funding, while simultaneously fulfilling necessary board credentialing requirements.
Our aims are to: 1) recruit and train 3 clinical residents annually with the potential and commitment to become successful clinical and translational researchers in aging; 2) guide these resident investigators in obtaining more advanced methodological, analytic, and collaborative skills appropriate for their level of training; 3) create and support effective, influential, and long-lasting relationships with accomplished aging research mentors during and after residency; and 4) guide scholars in successfully competing for other forms of research support that will pave the way for them to pursue long-term careers in clinical or translational aging science.
This Stimulating Access to Research in Residency program is designed to provide residents from diverse clinical backgrounds with the tools, mentorship, and support necessary to develop promising careers in aging research. As such, it addresses the need for clinician scientists who combine first-hand perspective on the care of older adults with the methodologic, collaborative, and communication skills necessary to conduct high- impact aging science. By including residencies and departments that do not already have a strong pre-existing tradition of aging research, this proposal also addresses the need for more diverse representation of different clinical perspectives in aging research.
