Healthcare professionals, scientists, and the public are embracing the potential advances in healthcare that are possible, and in some cases being delivered now, through approaches that employ genomic and other personal information to improve care. To ensure these expectations become reality requires a highly qualified cadre of clinician-scientists, scientists and clinicians working collaboratively to advance discoveries and implementation in genomic medicine. We propose a new post-doctoral genomic medicine training program called ?Program for Applied Research and Development in Genomic Medicine or PARADIGM?. This training program for MDs, PharmDs, other clinical specialists at the doctoral level, and PhDs is based on four premises: Genomic medicine: 1. will be led primarily by doctorally-trained clinicians and a team approach is essential. 2. needs clinical translational scientists in with core competencies in translational science, and specialized knowledge in genomic medicine. 3. will require leaders, and this program will foster development of leadership and professionalism. 4. will improve lives through scientific leaders in academia, healthcare, the private sector, governmental regulatory science and policy, among other sectors. To train individuals to meet these needs, PARADIGM will provide up to 4 post-doctoral scholars a multi-year, integrated, multidisciplinary program to prepare them for a career in genomic medicine. Broadly, the program is comprised of four major components: 1) a Didactic component of required and optional coursework; 2) a Mentored Research component involving a defined research project under the mentorship of an accomplished genomic medicine scientist and clinician; 3) a Clinical Genomic Medicine component that integrates them into the genomic medicine clinical practice setting; and 4) a Professional Development component including experiential training through presenting at national meetings, participating in grant and budget reviews, mentoring students and other activities. The mosaic of training experiences across these four components will be tailored according to the previous experiences, educational needs and research interests of the trainee, but will be concentrated in three cores of expertise at UF: pharmacogenomics, cancer genomics, and disease susceptibility genetics/genomics. We will rely on 36 highly talented, collaborative, multidisciplinary mentors to execute the program. PARADIGM will undergo continuous evaluation and quality improvement to ensure long-term success of the trainees. Upon program completion, each trainee will be expected to possess knowledge and skills that will enable them to manage the challenges of evidence generation and clinical use of genomic medicine.
The purpose of this administrative supplement is to request an additional postdoctoral training position to PARADIGM. We anticipate that the applicant will participate fully in all aspects of the training program laid out in our proposal, focusing her research on the genomics of pancreatic cancer, especially with regard to health disparities between ethnic groups. The applicant brings an excellent record of accomplishment to date and believe that PARADIGM will be a key aspect to her training career to meet her long term career goals to be a cancer surgeon with an active genomic medicine laboratory.
