Physician-scientists play a unique role in bridging the gap between basic science and clinicians through the identification of important clinical questions and translating results to improve patient care. Unfortunately, the physician-scientist workforce continues to diminish and contributes to negative, long-lasting consequences in biomedical research. Many residency programs focus heavily on acquiring medical knowledge as opposed to fostering intellectual curiosity and an introduction into the biomedical research field. In this proposal, we aim to enhance attractiveness and preparedness for a career as a physician-scientist during residency training. Furthering the diminishing interest in a career as a physician-scientist is the ability to identify an encouraging and successful mentor. There is a critical need for a renewed emphasis on established physician-scientists as role models to trainees. Cardiac biology, pulmonary inflammation and regenerative medicine are fundamental areas of science that greatly benefits from a robust physician-scientist workforce. We hypothesize that early and longitudinal mentorship combined with development of research and professional development skills in the areas of regenerative medicine, cardiac and pulmonary biology will make the physician-scientist career path attractive and sustainable. To this end, we propose the implementation of the Massachusetts General Hospital Next- Generation Physician-Scientist Through Stimulating Access to Research in Residency (MGH Next-Gen StARR) program. The program will train new physician-scientists throughout the biomedical research continuum who will promote new preventative and therapeutic measures for diseases of the heart, lungs, and blood. The MGH Next-Gen StARR program is centered around the following three objectives: [1] To foster the creation of important scientific contributions through strong, longitudinal mentorship with an emphasis on leadership essentials; [2] To develop sufficient basic laboratory and translational approaches necessary to conduct high- quality research in the areas of regenerative medicine, cardiometabolic and pulmonary biology; and [3] To formulate hypothesis-based research questions, development and execution of a research project, and effectively communicate the significance of their science. MGH Next-Gen StARR program will allow two residents from the Department of Medicine to conduct research for 12-24 months at MGH or the Broad Institute. The program will be led by Jatin M Vyas (Medicine), an Executive Steering Committee and External Advisory Board, along with 58 multidisciplinary and well-funded research preceptors. Together, these initiatives are designed to attract, train, and retain MDs in biomedical investigation in the areas of vascular biology and regenerative medicine at the most critical juncture of their career - residency training.
Training the next generation of physician-scientists who will tackle the important clinical issues in cardiac biology, pulmonary inflammation, and regenerative medicine requires a robust and innovative program to provide superb training on an integrated platform. We propose the Massachusetts General Hospital Next-Generation Physician- Scientist Through Stimulating Access to Research in Residency (MGH Next-Gen StARR) program to provide dedicated research time to residents in the Departments of Medicine to foster longitudinal mentorship, skill development, and perform high-quality research related to fundamental questions in regenerative medicine, cardiac and pulmonary biology.
