This integrated predoctoral and postdoctoral training program will support the development of exceptionally talented individuals who seek to become innovative leaders in the arena of medically directed cancer research. The experimental and didactic focus of the Cancer Intervention and Prevention Discoveries Program (CIPD) is defined by 4 scientific programs built upon current institutional strengths in discovery science and medicine. These include cancer target and pathway discovery, drug discovery and development, tumor biology and preclinical modeling of human cancer, and molecular therapeutics and translational development. Participating faculty prosecute basic and translational discov...

Read More

This integrated predoctoral and postdoctoral training program will support the development of exceptionally talented individuals who seek to become innovative leaders in the arena of medically directed cancer research. The experimental and didactic focus of the Cancer Intervention and Prevention Discoveries Program (CIPD) is defined by 4 scientific programs built upon current institutional strengths in discovery science and medicine. These include cancer target and pathway discovery, drug discovery and development, tumor biology and preclinical modeling of human cancer, and molecular therapeutics and translational development. Participating faculty prosecute basic and translational discovery campaigns against human cancer at multiple levels of mechanistic resolution; spanning atomic structure, molecular biology, chemical genetics, functional genomics, and preclinical modeling through to investigator initiated clinical trials. Our aim is to develop a cadre of Ph.D., M.D., and M.D./Ph.D. scientists who can formulate clinically important questions from a basic science perspective, who understand how to interface and collaborate with clinical and translational researchers, and who have the skillset to target their research programs to address unmet therapeutic and diagnostic needs. To empower our trainees to spearhead the bidirectional translation of discoveries between the “bench and bedside”, we have recruited a cohort of world-class clinicians and physician scientists to serve as co-mentors for all trainees. These co-mentors will provide structured exposure to cancer patient care and clinical cancer research by appropriate integration of trainees into the Simmons Cancer Center’s Disease Oriented Teams (DOTs). These teams were developed to provide a multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of cancer patients and include oncologists, translational scientists, research nurses, study coordinators and data specialists. As the CIPD program requires continued dialog between basic science and clinical faculty, it will help forge the bridges among basic and clinical researchers that generate the synergy essential for multidisciplinary collaborative investigations at the basic science/medicine interface.

Read Less