Washington University Physician Neuroscientist Training Pipeline (PNTP) Pathway

Washington University, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract Young investigators are essential to the maintenance of a vibrant Neurology/Neurosurgery physician-scientist workforce, but are facing increasing clinical demands, diminishing research time, and limited funding for scientific training. Moreover, the rapid pace of basic neuroscience advancement and the emergence of new enabling technologies add to the challenges facing these future physician-neuroscientists. To meet this pressing need, we have built upon the successes of our prior Neurology/Neurosurgery R25 program to establish a comprehensive UE5 training program that begins during early residency training that aims to recruit and prepare the next generation of Neurology/Neurosurgery physician-neuroscientists to successfully compete for the best junior faculty positions in the country, secure extramural career development funding, including K-series grants from the National Institutes of Health, and ultimately become independent principal investigators. The structure of the Washington University Physician Neuroscientist Training Pipeline (PNTP) pathway improves upon our prior R25 program in several fundamental ways: (1) we established a more formalized pipeline beginning early in residency training to guide and nurture future physician-neuroscientists in neurosurgery and neurology, (2) we created a resident-led workshop series for Neurology and Neurosurgery trainees that exposes them to faculty research, career-relevant topics relevant to the transition to independence, and cross-disciplinary research centers and core facilities at Washington University, (3) we established an annual symposium, pairing R25/UE5 fellow research presentations with an invited distinguished physician-neuroscientist keynote lecture, (4) we established two advisory groups, an external advisory committee and an operations guidance team, to provide programmatic oversight and input, and (5) we expanded our training program to now accept neuroscience research-focused residents from other departments. The Departments of Neurosurgery and Neurology at Washington University each provide excellent institutional environments for basic, translational, and clinical neuroscience research and education, with long and distinguished track records of training academic physician- neuroscientists spanning many decades. In the past decade, over 60% of Neurosurgery graduates have entered academic practice and nearly 20% of graduates have become successful NIH-funded neurosurgeon-scientists, while ~80% of Neurology graduates have taken positions at academic medical centers, and 23% have received independent fellowship grants, K awards, and/or R01 grants to date. Taken together, the proposed PNTP provide an enhanced and distinct research training pipeline, specifically for neurosurgeons and neurologists, but also other cognate subspecialists, interested in academic careers as independent neuroscience researchers, with the overall long-term goal of ensuring that highly-trained physician-scientists will be available to make future advances to reduce the burden of neurological disease across the lifespan.