The Clinical Education, Mentoring and Career Development (CREMCaD) Key Component Activity will play a central role in achieving the mission of the CTR-IN to increase the quantity, quality, and NIH funding of clinical and translational research thereby accelerating the translation of scientific discovery to improved health in the region. Within the MWRC, considerable development in clinical and translational research education programs has occurred at the University of Hawaii, and the University of New Mexico. These programs are the heritage of many years of institutional change with significant NIH and institutional support. After establishment of the MWRC in 2009, it became clear that similar training programs are either unavailable, or difficult to access, for investigators in most institutions of higher learning across the 7 western IDeA states. At the IDeA regional meeting (Reno 2011), this need for education in clinical and translational mentoring, the lack of mentors, and difficulties in accessing clinical populations were discussed as major limitations to the development of clinical and translational research across the region. This issue is of critical concern in light of the increased emphasis on T1-T4 research throughout the NIH. The CREMCaD KCA will establish and provide a coordinated program of training, mentoring and opportunities for research exchange that will promote the understanding and development of successful clinical and translational research in the region. The CREMCaD KCA will concentrate on the career development of a cadre of investigators, including 1) New Investigators (as defined by the NIH) engaged in clinical and translational research, but operating on small budgets and not yet competitive for NIH funding; 2) mid career and senior investigators who may require more comprehensive training in clinical and translational research, and 3) established basic scientists with successful track records but who have not had the. knowledge, opportunity or resources to undertake translational research. The CREMCaD KCA will actively seek out and facilitate participation of investigators from a variety of disciplines, including but not limited to medicine, nursing, public health, nutrition, health physics, physical therapy, kinesiology, psychology, social work, pharmacology, pharmacy, dentistry, biostatistics, and epidemiology. Achieving the specific aims of the CREMCaD KCA will transform MWRC research endeavors and will facilitate the emergence of quality collaborative clinical translational research across the MWRC along with the educational activities to sustain it. Specifically, the CREMCaD KCA will increase the number of investigators in the region who have a sophisticated understanding of the forms of clinical and translational research, and who have the skills to conceive, plan and conduct it. By providing a centralized resource to link investigators of different levels to appropriate mentoring and educational opportunities, the CREMCaD KCA will play a key role in the development of new clinical and translational projects that will be competitive for extramural funding.
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