The new CCTRT will serve as the academic home for research training for the ICTS. The CCTRT will build several new research training programs including: [unreadable] A PhD program in clinical investigation, [unreadable] A training program for research nurses, coordinators and assistants, [unreadable] A series of new pediatric clinical research training programs (Program Function 2.11) and [unreadable] In collaboration with other CTSA Program Functions we will help develop new translational research curriculum (Biomedical Informatics 2.03, Biostatistics 2.04, Ethics 2.04, Community Engagement 2.07, Translational Pathology/Phenotyping Core 2.08, Human Imaging Unit 2.10, Brain, Behavior, Performance Unit 2.12, and Genetics/Genomics Core 2.13) A.1 Governance: The CCTRT will be governed by a newly formed Education Committee, which reports to the ICTS Operations Committee. We will also develop a new Council of NIH-Funded Training Programs to ensure collaboration between the core components of the CTSA, CCTRT and all the other existing training grants at WU, SLU and other institutional partners to share best practices, including educational resources and materials, curriculums, evaluation materials, minority recruitment strategies and materials to track trainees, mentors, faculty, and the training programs. The CCTRT will help overcome academic silos by bringing the organization, administration, and coordination of training programs together. This new Council will ensure that training grant directors from diverse disciplines work together to promote an institutional culture that rewards research mentoring, promotes more interaction between schools and departments and ensures equitable access to all ICTS resources. A.2 Vision: We believe that clinical investigators of the future require broad didactic training in clinical and translational research methods, clinical trials, epidemiology, biostatistics, health behavior, and ethics, as well as various aspects of biomedical science. Specifically more training is needed to address the broad spectrum of both levels of translation (bench to bedside and bedside to community) including issues of Good Clinical Practice, investigator sponsored vs. industry sponsored studies, entrepreneurial issues of intellectual property development, recruitment and retention of research study participants, understanding and overcoming cultural PHS 398/2590 (Rev. 09/04, Reissued 4/2006) Page 612 Continuation Format Page Principal Investigator/Program Director. (Last, First, Middle)! Polonsky, Kenneth S. Research Education, Training and Career Development barriers, methods of community based research, and reducing health disparities. Trainees also require successful and committed mentors and a supportive and nurturing environment. The leaders of the CCTRT are all successful clinical investigators who are known for their passion for training and mentoring. They have all developed successful training programs and have collaborated on numerous projects in the past. Through their leadership, commitment, and expertise, the CCTRT will provide an outstanding environment for research training and mentoring. A.3 Interactions and Integration: The CCTRT will work closely with other CTSA Program Functions (Novel Methodologies and Pilot Studies, Biomedical Informatics, Biostatistics, Regulatory Knowledge and Support, Patient Interactions, and Community Engagement) to provide additional rich resources to support research training. Diverse groups of faculty, mentors and scholars from different disciplines and all the ICTS Program Functions will be woven together to facilitate training by providing didactic programs, mentored research practicums, and individual support services for trainees. The CCTRT will ensure extensive interactions between faculty, mentors and trainees to develop functional and long-lasting mentoring relationships and research collaborations. The CCTRT will help provide a roadmap for trainees to access and benefit from all the Program Functions of the CTSA. This will facilitate the research, education, and career development of trainees and junior faculty. The new CCTRT represents a paradigm shift in the approach to research training at WU, SLU and the other institutional partners by formally integrating dozens of diverse programs into a cohesive and supportive home designed to foster mentoring and research collaborations. This will ultimately improve the efficiency and shorten the duration of research training. A.4 Promoting Diversity and Program Evaluation: The CCTRT will be structured to ensure successful recruitment, retention and promotion of under-represented minorities and women at all levels of training and to ensure broad representation of scholars and leadership from multiple disciplines. Graduates will thus be equipped to apply an array of skills to the study of human disease and to appreciate the benefits of working in teams and collaborating with investigators from diverse disciplines. WU, SLU and the other institutional partners are diverse and complementary institutions that together provide a fertile setting for research training. The entire program, including the CCTRT, the Council of NIH-Funded Training Programs, mentors, faculty, trainees, and the curriculum, will be evaluated regularly, and these evaluations will be used to improve the program. Trainees will be tracked longitudinally for at least 10 years to monitor their employment, career development, and milestones, including research, faculty appointments, grants, participation in study sections, publications, clinical workload, awards, and mentoring. The CCTRT will be evaluated by: [unreadable] Tracking the number and types of trainees applying, accepted, matriculating, and completing training [unreadable] Measuring trainee satisfaction with training programs and outcomes of the trainees (research productivity, publications, grants, academic appointments and promotions) [unreadable] Reviewing faculty and mentors'teaching, mentoring and research productivity;and [unreadable] Developing an external advisory board to critically review the Center, its programs, practices, and to make suggestions for improvement.