Career Enhancement Core

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY. The goal of the Career Enhancement Core (CEC) is to meet the career enhancement needs of research on sex-based autoimmune disease (AID) for the overall Stanford U54 SCORE (named “SCORE-X”). Funds will be used to support trainees who are positioned to transition to independence within the 5-year SCORE-X funding period, especially junior faculty and established investigators who wish to enhance or refocus their careers on translational research on sex as a biological variable (SABV) in AID. CEC will facilitate training and career development of interdisciplinary early-career researchers who are committed to advancing research to better understand AIDsex-bias. We will leverage Stanford’s rich research environment and existing educational programs targeting trainees with fewer opportunities in science and medicine, starting in high school and extending all the way to the professoriate. CEC will benefit from, and contribute to, pipeline programs designed to reinvigorate the U.S. biomedical research workforce, especially the physician- scientist (PS) pipeline. The CEC team led by Dr Utz has developed a plan that outlines how SCORE-X will enhance the US biomedical, clinical, behavioral, and social science enterprise. CEC will pursue 3 specific aims. Aim 1 will develop and implement a SCORE-X Pilot Grant Program in sex differences in AID, offering two Pilot Grant awards annually, through a competitive process. Pilot Grants will support the most promising early-stage investigators across the translational research spectrum, prioritizing multi-faceted trainees pursuing research careers in both (i.) sex differences in AID; and (ii.) in basic, clinical, translational, and population-based science, including big data, artificial intelligence, and biomedical informatics. Aim 2 will create an integrated educational program and evaluation plan for SCORE-X trainees and mentors. Aim 3 will embed SCORE-X’s educational and research initiatives on SABV into Stanford’s existing programs focused on fostering collaboration and professional growth across disciplines. Unlike many institutions in the United States, Stanford has already developed a comprehensive talent pipeline to cultivate a translational medicine workforce that reflects a breadth of perspectives and expertise. CEC will use this existing infrastructure to incorporate education on sex-bias research considerations, methods and best practices into other Stanford research programs, including: (i.) 3 high school and 1 summer undergraduate research programs; (ii.) Stanford’s Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) and MD-only medical student research programs such as the Berg Scholars program; (iii.) Stanford’s 14 research residency programs; (iv.) Burroughs Wellcome Fund’s Physician Scientist Institutional Award recipients; and (v.) other SCORE centers across the country.