ASH Clinical Research Training Institute

• 2008 Clinical Research Training Institute Brochure - Learn more about Clinical Research Training Institute workshop components, objectives, and past curricula topics.
• ASH News Daily article on the Clinical Research Training Institute - Read a first-person account of the Clinical Research Training Institute summer workshop.

Now in its sixth year, the ASH Clinical Research Training Institute is a unique year-long education and mentoring program for hematology and hematology/oncology fellows-in-training, as well as junior faculty physicians at academic medical centers. The goal of ASH’s Clinical Research Training Institute is to prepare hematologists for careers in patient-oriented clinical research.

The Clinical Research Training Institute begins with a mandatory week-long summer workshop from August 2 – 8 at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort in Dana Point, CA, that focuses on the foundation, methodologies, and applications of clinical research. Participants are matched with a workshop faculty member and a small group. This structure provides participants with intensive exposure to informational and networking resources. Throughout the week, participants work from their own proposed clinical research projects and refine and revise their plans through formal and informal interaction with faculty.

Each day of the summer program is divided into didactic sessions and small group meetings. The mornings are dedicated to lectures on clinical research methodology and related topics, while in the afternoons participants meet with their workshop mentors and other faculty to work on protocol development. Informal presentations by leaders in hematology clinical research that are designed to illustrate the variety of opportunities available within the field, take place in the evenings.

Two subsequent mandatory sessions, one at the ASH annual meeting and a second session held on the second Thursday in May at ASH Headquarters in Washington, DC, provide an opportunity for further interaction and mentoring throughout the year.

There is no fee to apply or participate in this program. In addition, ASH pays awardees’ travel expenses to the summer workshop and spring meeting.

Target Audience

The Clinical Research Training Institute is geared toward hematology and hematology/oncology fellows in training, as well as junior faculty who at the time of their application are within three years of completing their fellowship training at academic medical centers in the United States and Canada. ASH intends to keep the group small to enhance the learning and mentoring experience; only 20 trainees will be selected for the course. To vary representation among programs, only one individual per program per medical school will be accepted.

Application Process

Applications must be submitted electronically to training@hematology.org by March 31, 2008. Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Applications not formatted correctly or missing required documents will not be considered. Please see the list of required documents below. Applicants will be notified of their status by May 16, 2008.

Required Documents

Each application submission must consist of the following seven items:

1. Application (save as [Lastname]_CRTI_application_survey.doc)
   ASH provides this form. Please answer all questions.
   
   
2. Demographic Survey
   ASH provides this form. Although the applicant is not required to provide demographic information, the survey must be returned either with the requested information or with a check mark indicating you would rather not provide demographic information. Please see instructions on the survey document, which is included in the application form.
   
   
• The following documents must be created by the applicant and formatted with one inch margins on all sides and a minimum font size of 12 point. Please adhere to page guidelines and place your name in the lower right-hand corner on each page of each document. All files should be named in the following format: jones_biosketch.doc or miller_cdp.doc.
  
  
3. Applicant’s Biosketch (two-page limit)
   Please provide your contact information, present position, training (including training in clinical research), publications, and other relevant information.
   
   
4. Applicant’s Career Development Plan (two-page limit)
   Please detail your career goals (related to prior experience), systematic plan to obtain experience and skills for an independent career in clinical research, and list of available resources (such as courses, workshops, etc.) at your home institution.
   
   
5. Research Proposal and References (five-page limit for proposal; one-page limit for references)
   Please include title, tables, and figures. Studies should directly involve clinical observation of human subjects; potential areas include new approaches to the diagnosis, treatment, pathogenesis, or epidemiology of hematologic disorders, as well as the utilization of health-care resources for these diseases. Studies that are exclusively laboratory-based are not appropriate.
   
   
   • The following documents must be created by the applicant’s mentor and formatted with one inch margins on all sides and a minimum font size of 12 point. Please adhere to page guidelines and place your name in the lower right-hand corner on each page of each document. All files should be named in the following format: jones_biosketch.doc or miller_cdp.doc.
   
   
6. Mentor’s biosketch (two-page limit)
   Please provide your mentor’s contact information, present position, training (including training in clinical research), publications, and other relevant information.
   
   
7. Mentor’s Statement of Support (two-page limit)
   Please include your mentor’s qualifications in the research area, previous experience in research training, nature and extent of supervision during the award year, and commitment to providing a productive environment to the applicant.
   

Additional Items

If the trainee has made plans to move to another institution prior to the start of Clinical Research Training Institute in August, a letter of support from the mentor at the new institution must be sent as part of a completed application.

Application Evaluation

Each application is reviewed by a primary, secondary, and tertiary reviewer. Priority scores will be assigned with a maximum of 15 points for each application.

Scoring:

A maximum of four points may be assigned for applicant’s personal qualifications, assessed by the biosketch, and potential for academic success, assessed also by the career development plan.

A maximum of four points may be assigned for the research proposal. Proposals will be assessed for originality, feasibility, and clinical importance. Completion of the proposal within the year of the Clinical Research Training Institue is not necessary, but a clear plan for the timeline of the study and data analysis is essential. Preference will be given to proposals with greater involvement of clinical observations.

A maximum of two points may be assigned for the mentor’s experience and plans for supporting the applicant.

Up to five can be assigned for the project’s malleability.

Further detailed information about the ASH Clinical Research Training Institute is available by contacting training@hematology.org.

2007 Clinical Research Training Institute Participants

• Philippe Armand, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA
• Saro Armenian, DO, Fellow, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
• Aleksandar Babic, MD, PhD, Brigham and Women's Hospital Blood Bank, Boston, MA
• Veronika Bachanova, MD, PhD, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
• Arun Balakumaran, MD, PhD, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD
• Joshua Field, MD, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
• Veronica Flood, MD, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
• Elizabeth Griffiths, MD, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
• Nicole Hasbrouck, MD, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
• Danelle James, MD, University California San Diego, La Jolla, CA
• Cindy Neunert, MD, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, TX
• Enrico Novelli, MD, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA
• Katerina Pavenski, BSc, MD, FRCPC, McMaster University, Toronto, Ontario
• Adrienne Phillips, MD, MPH, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
• Nishitha Reddy, MD, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
• Kristy Richards, MD, PhD, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
• Cara Rosenbaum, MD, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
• Andrei Shustov, MD, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
• Alison Walker, MD, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
• Nicole Whitlatch, MD, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC

2007 Clinical Research Training Institute Faculty

• John C. Byrd, MD, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
• Linda J. Burns, MD, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
• Mark A. Crowther, MD, MSc, St. Joseph's Hospital, Hamilton, ON
• George J. Dover, MD, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD
• Susan Geyer, PhD, Radiation Effects Research Foundation, Hiroshima, Japan
• Scott D. Gitlin, MD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
• Julie Hambleton, MD, Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, CA
• Stephen Hunger, MD, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL
• Kenneth Kaushansky, MD, University of California, San Diego CA
• Barbara A. Konkle, MD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
• Wendy Lim, MD, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON
• Harvey Luksenburg, MD, National Institutes of Health, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD
• Beverly S. Mitchell, MD, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
• Sharon B. Murphy, MD, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX
• Robert F. Todd, III, MD, PhD, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI
• J. Douglas Rizzo, MD, MS, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
• Andrew I. Schafer, MD, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY
• Sanford J. Shattil, MD, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA
• Susan B. Shurin, MD, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD
• Valerie Skaggs, PhD, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK
• Lillian Sung, MD, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON
• Moshe Talpaz, MD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
• Ivo Touw, PhD, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, Netherlands
• Daniel G. Wright, MD, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, MD
• Wenting Wu, PhD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Committee on Training Programs