Infections remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality, despite decades of advances in diagnosis, therapeutics and delivery of health care. Many of the traditional treatments for common infections are no longer effective because of the emergence of new pathogens (e.g. SARS, norovirus) and the fast-growing problem of antimicrobial resistance. The origins of the widespread problems of infection stem from issues in such diverse areas as microbial genetics, health care policy, economics, and human behavior. From 2007-12, NINR funded a T90, """"""""Training in Interdisciplinary Research to Reduce Antimicrobial Resistance"""""""", TIRAR, a highly successful program described in Section 1.c. In July 2012 NINR funded the T32 pre- and post-doctoral training program, """"""""Training in Interdisciplinary Research to Prevent Infections"""""""" (TIRI, http://sklad.cumc.columbia.edu/nursing/research/ciriTrGr12_17.php), to equip a cadre of pre-doctoral and post- doctoral scholars with the interdisciplinary tools and training critical to address the broad issue of the prevention of infections, and to develop the interdisciplinary understanding among faculty and colleagues across disciplines that is vital to fulfill this trainin mission. In 2010 the director of TIRI (Larson) served on the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) task force, """"""""The Research-Focused Doctoral Program in Nursing"""""""", which recommended identifying innovative pathways to 'speed up'the pipeline to meet the need for more nurse researchers. In the same year, The Institute of Medicine published a landmark report on the future of nursing, also recommending that nursing education allow for more rapid and seamless transition into higher degree programs and more exposure to interdisciplinary training. To provide an option for individuals entering the profession of nursing with a clear goal of becoming a researcher, the Columbia University School of Nursing (CUSON) has a formal BSN-PhD program and we are therefore well positioned to respond to RFA- NR-13-010, Scholars Training for the Advancement of Research (STAR). The overall goal of this revision is to strengthen the pipeline of researchers dedicated to using interdisciplinary approaches to solving complex clinical and basic research problems related to the prevention and control of infections.
The specific aim of this application is to provide """"""""fast track"""""""" training for two additinal students in TIRI's integrated interdisciplinary Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) to PhD program. TIRI would provide ideal training for BSN-PhD students because the program plan already includes an interdisciplinary field practicum and a didactic course on building interdisciplinary research models as well as content specific to the prevention of infections. In addition to the current aims of TIRI, we propose to expand our traineeships and recruitment efforts to provide a program to deliver the highest quality doctoral-level education in an expedited time period for well qualified candidates.
Infections remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality despite decades of advances in diagnosis, therapeutics and delivery of health care. Although the prevention of many community and healthcare- associated infections is theoretically within our reach, progress is often slow because of the multi-factorial nature of the problem and a failure to integrate knowledge across fields such as epidemiology, genetics, and behavioral science. This revision will provide fast track training for two additional students in TIRI's integrated interdisciplinary Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) to PhD program.
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