The Surgical Oncology Research Training Program at the University of Florida is designed to provide trainees with the skill set necessary to pursue a career in both surgical oncology and basic science research.
We aim to train individuals who seek translational cancer research as a significant component of their academic career in surgical oncology. To accomplish our purpose, trainees w ill be mentored by both a basic science preceptor and a clinical preceptor. The basic science preceptor will provide continual guidance and oversight of a basic science project whereas the clinical preceptor will ensure that the trainee understands the clinical context of their research. Independently-funded research preceptors in the fields of cancer cell signaling and cell death, cancer genetics and stem cell biology and clinically-active, funded clinical preceptors and the executive committee of the program will assist the trainee with curricular development, project selection, conduct of research, clinical correlation and project evaluation. Quarterly, the trainee, research preceptor, clinical preceptor and executive committee will meet to review data and provide guidance for the project. As the trainees mature, they will be expected to present their findings at national meetings and submit their work to high-impact journals. The executive committee seeks to recruit high- quality applicants with tangible evidence of an interest in surgical oncology. Furthermore, we will seek applications from under-represented minorities. One trainee will be accepted into the program each year for a total of two trainees in the program per year. Specifically, the program seeks to accomplish the following specific aims:1) To advance an integrated surgical oncology basic science program that promotes development of academic surgical oncologists;2) To create a program the fosters interdisciplinary approaches to translational oncologic research;3) To develop a training program that attracts high-quality candidates including under-represented minorities. Upon completion of the program, the trainee should have the skills required to obtain a prestigious surgical oncology fellowship, pursue a career in academic surgical oncology and ultimately be a leader for novel research that advances the care of the cancer patients.
The state of Florida is the fourth most populous state, but, in terms of estimated, newly diagnosed cancer cases, it is second in the nation. Furthermore, some evidence suggests that cancer care in Florida lags behind our peers. Therefore, as the only surgical oncology basic science training program in the State, a goal is to increase the number of basic science-trained surgical oncologists, who can advance the care of cancer patients through both research and clinical care
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