J. Training Core Abstract Collaborative interdisciplinary teams are critical to achieve and translate high impact science, yet multiple fields of expertise, each having its own language and culture, must be integrated and coordinated to achieve the goal of translation. To diminish barriers to translational efficiency, innovative training programs are needed to develop a cadre of researchers with the skills to `speak the language' across the translational continuum. UNC possesses the resources and commitment to develop innovative strategies to address this critical training need. This emerging translational research workforce will become key team members and leaders who bridge current divides across disciplines and setting, adapt methods and approaches from different disciplines and integrate them into research, and effectively communicate with a broad group of stakeholders. In our view, three core milestones are central to the translation of biomedical discoveries: (1) moving discoveries through the process of commercialization/entrepreneurship; (2) evaluating products in clinical trials; and (3) bringing discoveries or evidence-based practices into integrated health systems. We propose a new TL1 postdoctoral training program focused toward track-specific immersion in one of these three translational themes. We have chosen the tracks in this program because they are in alignment with the goals of TraCS and the NIH. We will leverage existing programs and expertise including those of TraCS, the Carolina Health Informatics Program (CHIP) and Computational Biology programs, the clinical trials infrastructure, our Partnership for Entrepreneurial Commercialization of UNC Chapel Hill Technology, and the UNC Health Care System. The experienced Training Core Leadership Team will be joined by: (1) faculty mentors who have the scientific and/or clinical content expertise to further translate this product or idea, (2) resource experts whose primary responsibilities are to operationalize translation, and (3) discipline-specific informatics experts who can direct the trainee to informatics methods and resources relevant to their project. Our overarching goal is: to train a cadre of postdoctoral fellows who wish to become translational scientists by immersing them in the translation of research products within one of three tracks in the translational pipeline? clinical trials, commercialization and entrepreneurship, or health systems. We will accomplish this goal by: (1) providing fellows with the didactic and experiential training to develop and apply skills in their targeted area to become leaders and effective members of translational research teams, and (2) increasing retention in translational science by facilitating transition of fellows to individual research training awards, employment or other appropriate mechanisms of research support. Effective translation is a ?team sport?, and our goal is to create a training environment that includes the best science coupled with effective operationalization required for translation. This training will prepare TL1 fellows to serve as leaders across the translational pipeline who can both coalesce and manage future teams.
