This application is a request for funding for the Clinical Oncology Research Training Program at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. The Training Program first received funding from the National Cancer Institute in 1999;a competitive renewal application was funded in 2004. Dr. Rosen has served as Program Director and Dr. Leikin has served as Administrative Director since inception of the Program. They are joined by Drs. Licht and Corey, two senior scientists who were recently recruited to Northwestern University and who now serve as Co-Directors. All of the laboratory mentors are conducting nationally funded investigations in cancer research. Over the last nine plus years, the Training Program has enabled 27 fellows enrolled in the adult and pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship programs the opportunity to engage in laboratory research as part of their fellowship training. Out of the twenty-two fellows who have completed the Training Program, 18 are in academic positions- reflecting an 82% success rate. Eight of the 18 are actively engaged in both laboratory and clinical research (Campbell, O'Regan, Evens, Munshi, Altman, Peddinti, Ma and Zage) and the balance are conducting clinical research In this revised application, we have addressed all of the concerns raised in the previous submission. In particular, we propose that fellows must enroll in cancer biology, writing and ethics classes as well as monthly career development sessions to be led by our newly recruited Associate Dean for Faculty Recruitment and Professional Development, Dr. Richard McGee. We also include greater detail about the productivity of former trainees and implement more formal mechanisms for evaluation of trainees and mentors through our Annual Review for Fellows Form and Mentorship and Training Program Evaluation Form. Based on our expectation that we will continue to attract similar numbers of highly qualified fellows to Northwestern University, we request funding for four postdoctoral fellows per year for a period of five years in the current application.
The Training Program in Clinical Oncology Research is designed to train adult and pediatric fellows to become academic physician scientists addressing the problem of human cancer, a disease that has significant relevance to public health.
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