Professional Development Core The Professional Development Core (PDC) will contribute to the overall goal of AI-AN CTRC by developing and expanding the intellectual infrastructure needed to develop and sustain a center for Native health research in Montana and Alaska. To achieve this, the PDC will accomplish the following specific aims:
Specific Aim 1. Increase interest and opportunities of Alaskan and Montanan researchers in initiating clinical and translational research in AI-AN health. This will be accomplished by offering workshops on the needs for clinical research in AI-AN health, opportunities for funding, and how to initiate and sustain such research through AI-AN CTRC mechanisms. The PDC will also develop a faculty seminar exchange program funding both established and potential new clinical investigators, to travel to either Alaska or Montana to give seminars of their research, and visit with local investigators at each of the two state?s performance site institutions and thus facilitate development of interest and collaborations in Native health.
Specific Aim 2. To develop, through mentoring, the ability of Alaskan and Montanan researchers to be effective in clinical Native health research. This will be accomplished by firstly developing a source of mentors and then linking them with new AI-AN CTRC clinical investigators. Mentoring will occur at 4 levels. 1) One-on-one mentoring between the mentee and the primary, scientific mentor, 2) mentoring between the mentee and the Mentoring Board, 3) mentoring between the mentee and Community Engagement and Outreach (CEOC) and 4) mentoring between the mentee and the External Advisory Committee (EAC).
Specific Aim 3. To enhance the ability of Alaskan and Montanan researchers to develop and sustain their clinical and translational research programs. The PDC will construct a clinical research development program for each mentee. This program will consist of a list of courses, covering all aspects of clinical and translational research, personalized to the needs of the mentee. These courses will be offered on line through the ITHS of the University of Washington (UW?s CTSA) and the CTR-IN of the University of Nevada (UN?s IDeA CTR). Sustainability of projects will be encouraged by the PDC by working with mentees to develop appropriate proposals by organizing grant application chalk talks to allow junior and established clinical investigators to present their ideas for a grant proposal before they invest significant effort writing a proposal on ideas or aims that might be flawed. The PDC will then work with the mentee through the proposal preparation process. Then, mentees will be mentored on management of program and personnel, as well as grant management.
Specific Aim 4. To work with the Evaluation Core to constantly assess the progress of the PDC in achieving its goals and when needed, to utilize evaluation to inform procedural and/or organizational changes to facilitate achievement of the Core, and therefore the Center goals. Evaluation is crucial to this program, thus, continuation or changes in procedural strategies of the core needed to better achieve its aims, will be driven by results of evaluation.
