The Clinical & Translational Sciences Training program (CTST) has grown rapidly in the last year. Individual programs have greatly expanded their enrollment, reach and impact and new activities have been added. In addition, the program has begun making changes to rationalize administrative processes and to deliver more comprehensive and efficient training.
For over 25 years, UCSF has offered a rich curriculum to train investigators in the design and methods of clinical research through the Training in Clinical Research (TICR) Program, directed by Jeff Martin. This program now includes a summer Clinical Research Workshop, a 1-year Advanced Training in Clinical Research (ATCR) certificate program and a 2-year Master’s in Clinical Research degree program. The TICR Program has expanded to a total of 32 courses, ranging from an introduction to clinical research methods to advanced biostatistics, and enrollment has increased dramatically over the last year.
Now TICR has added a new curriculum and program focused on translating the evidence derived from research into clinical practice and the community ("T2" research). The TICR Curriculum in Implementation and Dissemination Sciences will be led by Ralph Gonzales and co-led by Margaret Handley and will eventually include a total of 10 courses presented by a wide range of UCSF faculty. The goal of the program is to use research evidence, behavioral and social science, process improvement, and communications to improve the health behavior of patients and the quality of health care. The UCSF-wide Program in Implementation and Dissemination Sciences, also led by Gonzales and Handley, will have funded trainees at the student and fellow levels.
The CTST K Scholar Career Development Program, led by Steve Hulley, currently includes 26 junior faculty from multiple disciplines at UCSF, providing salary support, access to a broad array of faculty advisors, and regular seminars and works-in-progress. In addition to the CTST K awards, many UCSF junior faculty hold individual NIH-funded K awards (K08, K23, etc) that provide funding, but do not offer an organized program similar to the CTST. Over the past year, CTST has extended programmatic support to an additional 24 individual K scholars, creating a large and diverse group of young faculty, enhancing collaboration and building lasting relationships.
CTST’s Resident Research Training program, led by Doug Bauer, is another unique initiative at UCSF. The program has now trained 50 residents from multiple disciplines in clinical research methods, most of whom have completed research protocols. A competitive program to provide research support for resident research has funded 27 projects to date, and the first annual UCSF Resident Research Symposium was held last May. The Pathways in Careers to Clinical & Translational Research (PACCTR) program, led by Joel Palefsky, has also expanded its impact, reaching more professional students to increase their exposure to research while completing their degrees.
As programs expand, CTST leadership realized the need to integrate administration to improve efficiencies. Chris Ireland, previously administrator of TICR and the K Scholars program will now administer all CTST programs as Deputy Director of CTST, working closely with CTST Director, Deborah Grady. Leadership of CTST has also been working hard to address the challenge of making clinical & translational training more efficient. How does one develop training pathways that are high quality, customized for professionals at various stages in their careers, while being as compact as possible? That's the challenge for CTST as it continues to grow over the next several years.
