Post-doctoral Trainees

Training Grants

T32: Cancer Therapeutics Training (CT2)

The NCI-funded T32 UCSD Cancer Center Training Program in Drug Development, led by Dr. Michael Bouvet and Dr. Dwayne Stupack, has been training the next generation of leaders in the field of oncology and diagnostic development since 2006. CT2 fellows acquire a thorough understanding of cancer biology and the drug development progress to 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 highly-competitive CT2 application process is open to both PhD and MD applicants and provides 2 years of mentored research, plus clinical coursework and wrap-around training. The training program has 3 key 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 also 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 grant applications for review by the Executive Committee. The application window will next open in Fall 2026. For more information, contact Caroline McKeown, PhD at cmckeown@health.ucsd.edu.

T32: Surgical Oncologists as Scientists Training (SOAS)

The NCI-funded T32 Surgical Oncologists as Scientists Training Program led by Dr. Jason Sicklick and Dr. Yuan Chen, provides 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. The highly-competitive SOAS application process is open to MD applicants and provides 2 years of mentored research, plus clinical coursework and wrap-around training, including grant-writing and participation in national conferences. 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. The application window will next open in early 2027. For more information, contact Caroline McKeown, PhD at cmckeown@health.ucsd.edu.

San Diego IRACDA: Professors for the Future

The San Diego Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA) is an NIH/NIGMS-sponsored program  that provides three years of mentored training in post-doctoral research in biomedical sciences at UC San Diego. The program also provides mentored teaching training at our partner institutions, including San Diego City College and San Diego State University (SDSU), and development of critical academic skills needed to conduct high quality research and pursue an independent academic career. The IRACDA program aims to develop a diverse group of highly trained biomedical scientists. Other specific objectives are to innovate, redesign, and develop science curriculum at teaching-intensive partner institutions and to establish links between UCSD and our partner institutions to promote collaborations in faculty research and student training. More information and application details can be found here: San Diego IRACDA.

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