Career Enhancement Core

University Of Colorado Denver, Aurora CO

Investigators

Abstract

CAREER ENHANCEMENT CORE ABSTRACT The overarching goal of the NASCARR Career Enhancement Core is to establish a sex chromosome aneuploidy (SCA) clinical research training program and educational resources that will build an inspired workforce of interdisciplinary SCA clinician-scientists. To accomplish this goal, we have designed a comprehensive educational program that will target four stages of the workforce pipeline: undergraduate/graduate students, residents and fellows, post-doctoral researchers, and early career faculty. Track 1, the student internship program, is a full-time summer research internship; this is an expansion of the existing and highly successful eXtraOrdinarY Kids Summer Research Internship, intensive program with an educational curriculum, mentored research project, and interdisciplinary shadowing opportunities. Track 2, a clinical science externship for residents and fellows, will accept clinical trainees to spend a month focused on interdisciplinary clinical care and research for pediatric rare disease conditions at select sites. This will be developed during the award period, piloted at a single site, and expanded after success is established. Track 3, for post-doctoral researchers, is a fellowship designed for trainees to dedicate 6-24 months toward a mentored SCA-research project at one or more NASCARR sites and attendance at the national RDCRN meeting; the fellowship will include different disciplines of SCA care and will be fine-tuned based on several successful experiences across NASCARR institutions. Track 4, for early-career faculty, is a sponsorship program that will be developed with the goal to support faculty with SCA-career potential and keep them engaged in rare disease research. Over 60 interdisciplinary NASCARR program faculty with expertise in rare disease clinical translational research including clinical trials, observational studies and community-based participatory research will serve as mentors for trainees. Individualized training plans will be developed for each trainee to personalize educational content and take advantage of the many robust and varied opportunities available throughout the NASCARR network. To ensure success and aid in quality improvement, evaluation metrics will be created to monitor trainee and mentor satisfaction, short and long-term retention in rare disease research, scholarly products, use of newly developed educational resources, and other outcomes. For the SCA community to conduct effective, scientifically rigorous, and impactful clinical trials, there must be trained and specialized clinical researchers with the necessary expertise, collaborative mindset, and motivation to conduct said trials. The CEC aims to take the first steps towards creating this workforce, aiding in the overarching NASCARR goal of clinical trial readiness.