Post-doctoral Trainees

This renewal application seeks funding to continue the highly successful Cancer Therapeutics Training (CT2) Program at the Moores Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego. The mission of the CT2 program is to train the PhD and physician-scientists who will become the next generation of leaders in the field of cancer therapeutics and diagnostics in each of the major steps required for successful translation of laboratory-based discoveries into safe and effective therapeutic agents and diagnostic modalities. The CT2 training is designed to position trainees to play key leadership roles in the field of oncology therapeutics. The 27 faculty of the CT2 Program are all Members of the Cancer Center and are based in 10 departments in the School of Medicine, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography or the general campus. Each faculty mentor is an accomplished investigator and educator with a history of training superb post-doctoral fellows. Each has substantial peer-reviewed cancer or cancer-related research funding. All of the participating faculty are conducting translational research and have been selected because of their interest in new cancer therapeutics. This program is extensively integrated into the other cancer related activities of the Cancer Center and of UCSD. The goal is to recruit and retain 8 MD and PhD scientists in this two-year program that will position them for careers in the development of new cancer drugs or the diagnostics needed to guide the use of these drugs in the era of personalized medicine. The training program has 3 components: 1) the completion of formal didactic teaching sessions that cover tools essential to the drug development process; 2) the conduct of a drug or diagnostic development research project under the direction of a faculty mentor; and, 3) required participation in the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research or an equivalent national drug development meeting. Trainees are also expected to participate in Cancer Center and Departmental seminars, research rounds and journal clubs to expand the breadth of their understanding of cancer research, and prepare formal project plans and practice or real grant applications for review by the Executive Committee. Methods are in place to ensure that all trainees are properly instructed in the principles of responsible conduct of research and scientific integrity. Trainees are recruited nationwide and special efforts are made recruit and retain exceptional minority, women and disadvantaged candidates. During its first 10 years of operation the CT2 Program has drawn trainees from major research universities across the country as well as from the Gradate Biomedical Sciences and Surgery, Hematology/Oncology, and Pediatric clinical training programs. This Program has been so successful that the Cancer Center has established a parallel program of additional fellowships in cancer therapeutics funded by donations.

UCSD Cancer Center Training Program in Drug Development

The overall goal of the proposed SOAS Training Program—for   Surgical   Oncologists   As   Scientists— is to provide research training for surgical residents committed to a career in academic surgical oncology. The SOAS program consists of three main training areas: 1) laboratory-based translational cancer research; 2) biospecimen banking in our College of American Pathologists (CAP)-certified biorepository; and 3) innovation and entrepreneurship. This training enables Trainees to become future leaders in academic surgery and oncology. This program is run jointly between the Department of Surgery and the NCI-Designated Moores Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California San Diego ( UCSD).

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) recognize that translational cancer research, which improves patient health, is a team sport that moves innovative discoveries from ( A) basic research to ( B) preclinical validation (often utilizing biobanked tissue) to ( C) clinical implementation (via entrepreneurship and commercialization). The current educational landscape is such that surgeons rarely receive formal training in biobanking and entrepreneurship, and few programs are designed to formally train surgeons in cancer biology and the tumor microenvironment ( TME). Recognizing these critical gaps in training translational surgeon-scientists, this application proposes a unique three-pronged focus: 1) the TME; 2) Biobanking; and 3) training in Innovation & Entrepreneurship skills—all of which are vital to successfully accomplish the stated goals of the NCI and the NIH in the coming decades.  SOAS is training the next generation of cancer surgeons as translational scientists, collaborators to non-clinician scientists, and future leaders in the biology of the TME, biobanking, and innovation & entrepreneurship. Trainees will creatively focus on turning cancer-related problems into translational research opportunities that lead to clinically relevant solutions for oncology patients that thereby create both societal value and tangible economic worth. 

UCSD Surgical Oncologists as Scientists (SOAS) Training Program

This proposal represents a continuation of a training program at UC San Diego in the Contemporary approaches in cancer cell signaling and communication, requesting funding for Years 34-38. All faculty mentors are members of the Moores UCSD Cancer Center, with appointments in Chemistry & Biochemistry, Bioengineering, Biological Sciences, or the School of Medicine. Our program also incorporates faculty from the Salk Institute. Training faculty include 5 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 3 Fellows of the AACR, and 1 Lasker recipient. Faculty mentors are organized into three broad research areas: 1) Biochemistry of tumor cell signaling; 2) Cell plasticity and tumor microenvironment; 3) Engineering approaches to cell signaling and communication. Training involves a monthly Training Grant Seminar with two presentations by trainees, formal courses, journal clubs, trainee/faculty luncheons, and events to promote program cohesion. A Supervisory Committee provides strong program oversight in trainee selection, evaluation, and programmatic decisions, continuing unchanged from the past 5 years. With this submission, program leadership envisions continued vibrancy for our program with the inclusion as the lead PD/PI for Years 34-38 of Prof. Jing Yang, a mid-career expert in tumor metastasis, who will strengthen our leadership team with her commitment to training and mentoring in cancer biology. Overall, this program remains highly dynamic, synergistic, and interdisciplinary. TRAINEES: Current and past trainees have excellent records of research accomplishments. We have requested 6 postdoctoral positions and 4 predoctoral positions for Years 34-38, unchanged from present. The requested slots continue to be justified by ongoing growth at UC San Diego, by the ability of the training faculty to recruit outstanding trainees to their labs, and by the interactive nature of the training labs that collectively provide a superb training environment. Predoctoral trainees are drawn from graduate students accepted into Chemistry & Biochemistry, Bioengineering, or Biological Sciences, and are appointed typically for 2 years. Postdoctoral trainees are selected from postdoctoral candidates applying for positions in the laboratories of the training faculty, and appointed for a maximum of 2 years. Trainees accepted into our program are expected to have strong backgrounds in chemistry, biochemistry, bioengineering, and molecular and cell biology. All trainees are expected to publish first-author publications and encouraged to apply for independent fellowships. PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS AND CHANGES: This renewal highlights several changes, including: eight exciting new faculty additions, strengthened interactions with the Moores UCSD Cancer Center; greater faculty/trainee interactions to promote program cohesion; strong support from five members of our External Advisory Board; compelling letters of support from members of our supervisory committee; and strong endorsements and commitments of support from key administrative leaders. CANCER CELL SIGNALING AND COMMUNICATION

This is a renewal application for the San Diego IRACDA Program: Professors for the Future. The San Diego IRACDA Program is a successful postdoctoral and career development training program that provides rigorous training to a diverse group of scholars that go on to pursue an independent research and teaching career at academic institutions. The San Diego IRACDA Program combines a mentored research-intensive experience at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and mentored teaching training experience at San Diego City College and San Diego State University (SDSU), two large minority serving institutions in the San Diego area. The specific objectives and goals of our program are: 1) to recruit and enhance the training of a diverse group of scholars in research, teaching and other critical academic skills and thereby facilitate their transition to independent research and teaching careers in academia, 2) to enhance the science curriculum and teaching at San Diego City College and SDSU based on scientific teaching principles that will inform and educate a diverse group of students, 3) to increase the number of underrepresented students from San Diego City College and SDSU participating in research at UCSD and/or entering competitive graduate programs in biomedical science, and 4) to promote interactions between UCSD faculty and faculty at San Diego City College and SDSU that will lead to productive collaborations in research and science education. Program evaluation has demonstrated that San Diego IRACDA fellows publish, obtain academic positions and receive post-fellowship independent grant awards at a greater rate compared to T32 supported postdoctoral fellows at UCSD. The San Diego IRACDA Program has benefitted San Diego City College and SDSU by providing new and improved teaching experiences based on scientific teaching principles, new research experiences and critical mentoring for underrepresented students that enhanced the training of the next generation of scientists from minority serving institutions.

San Diego IRACDA Professors for the Future