This application seeks to establish the Columbia Cancer Training Program for Resident-Investigators (CAPRI) at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) for residents from multiple departments. The proposed program will take advantage of the strong HICCC faculty in basic, clinical/translational, and population sciences, as well as the deep technologic resources of CUMC to provide advanced training for physicians in clinical cancer research. The principal aim of CAPRI is to provide comprehensive training in the design, conduct, and ethics of state-of-the-art clinical research to highly motivated physicians (MD or MD-PhD) dedicated to academic careers in clinical cancer medicine. The rationale for this program is to facilitate the development of translational researchers drawn from 13 CUMC residency programs, including Dermatology, Medicine, Neurosurgery, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Ophthalmology, Orthopedic Surgery, Pathology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Radiation Oncology, Radiology, Surgery, and Urology. Resident-investigators eligible for this grant are defined as future investigators and leaders in patient-oriented research. The comprehensive research training environment at CUMC provides the opportunity to achieve the goals of CAPRI: the successful career development of MDs in clinical cancer medicine with a focus on multi-disciplinary team science. CAPRI will provide the resident-investigators with the advanced skills necessary to perform state-of-the-art clinical research and provide them with the ability to: 1. Design and conduct rigorous hypothesis-driven research that encompasses the cancer care continuum of prevention, treatment, survivorship, and palliative care with the goal of reducing mortality and morbidity from this disease 2. Translate promising pre-clinical and observational findings into cancer clinical trials that prospectively evaluate biological and clinical endpoints 3. Conduct clinical cancer research in a multi-disciplinary team setting in which physician-scientists, basic scientists, and population scientists collaborate and interact to expedite and accelerate the translation of research findings into the clinical setting
It has been recognized that there will be a deficiency in adequately trained cancer physicians by 2020 that will grow by 2025. The rapid nature of innovation in cancer research creates added challenges for trained physician-scientists from multiple disciplines. The Columbia Cancer Training Program for Resident- Investigators (CAPRI) will provide an ideal setting in which comprehensive clinical research training can assure a cadre of future well-trained clinical investigators who will conduct high-impact research spanning the cancer care continuum.
