Educating the next generation of cancer researchers: Evaluation of a cancer research partnership training program.

African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Hispanic (or Latinx), Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islander groups are underrepresented in the biomedical workforce, which is one of the barriers to addressing cancer disparities among minority populations. The creation of a more inclusive biomedical workforce dedicated to reducing the burden of cancer health disparities requires structured, mentored research and cancer-related research exposure during the earlier stages of training. The Summer Cancer Research Institute (SCRI) is a multicomponent 8-week intensive summer program funded under the Partnership between a Minority Serving Institute and a National Institutes of Health-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. In this survey study, we found that students who participated in the SCRI Program reported greater knowledge and interest in pursuing careers in cancer-related fields than their counterparts who did not participate in SCRI. Successes, challenges, and solutions in providing training in cancer and cancer health disparities research to improve diversity in the biomedical fields were also discussed.

Preserving the Pipeline of Surgeon Scientists: The Role of a Structured Research Curriculum.

INTRODUCTION: With shrinking National Institute of Health support, increased clinical demands, and less time for research training during residency, the future of surgeon scientists is in jeopardy. We evaluate the role of a structured research curriculum and its association with resident academic productivity. METHODS: Categorical general surgery residents who matched between 2005 and 2019 at our institution were analyzed (n = 104). An optional structured research curriculum, including a mentor program, grant application support, didactic seminars, and travel funding was implemented in 2016. Academic productivity, including the number of publications and citations, was compared between residents who started in or after 2016 (postimplementation, n = 33) and those before 2016 (preimplementation, n = 71). Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, multivariable logistic regression, and inverse probability treatment weighting were performed. RESULTS: The postimplementation group had more female (57.6% versus 31.0%, P = 0.010), and nonwhite (36.4% versus 5.6%, P < 0.001) residents and had more publications and citations at the start of residency (P < 0.001). Postimplementation residents were more likely to choose academic development time (ADT) (66.7% versus 23.9%, P < 0.001) and had higher median (IQR) number of publications (2.0 (1.0-12.5) versus 1.0 (0-5.0), P = 0.028) during residency. After adjusting the number of publications at the start of residency, multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that the postimplementation group was five times more likely to choose ADT (95% CI 1.7-14.7, P = 0.04). Further, inverse probability treatment weighting revealed an increase of 0.34 publications per year after implementing the structured research curriculum among residents who chose ADT (95% CI 0.1-0.9, P = 0.023). CONCLUSIONS: A structured research curriculum was associated with increased academic productivity and surgical resident participation in dedicated ADT. A structured research curriculum is effective and should be integrated into residency training to support the next generation of academic surgeons.

Predictors of academic career progression among early career physician-scientists via an intensive research training program abroad: a case study.

BACKGROUND: Despite extensive efforts to revitalize the physician-scientist pipeline, attrition has been observed along the physician-scientist developmental pathway. Research exposure during clinical training is considered an important factor favoring the decision to pursue an academic career pathway. METHODS: The authors sought to identify factors associated with academic career progression among junior physician-scientists following the completion of an intensive research training program, using the framework of the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), to benefit the design of efforts to revitalize the physician-scientist career pipeline. We conducted a retrospective study of 108 physicians who completed a long-term research training program abroad during residency, or within a few years post-residency completion, between 2010 and 2017. With potential predictors of academic career progression prioritized by SCCT, multivariable logistic regression was used to identify predictors of sustained research involvement, high productivity and high research competency after training, respectively. The SCCT was used to illuminate our findings. RESULTS: Co-publications with training supervisors abroad and medical oncology/pediatric oncology as a clinical specialty were positively associated with sustained research involvement and high productivity. Joining the training program after the age of 36 was negatively associated with high research competency. All of the predictors shared a common feature of high correlation with both self-efficacy and environmental elements, the reciprocal interactions of which may affect the career progression of physician-scientists. CONCLUSIONS: Insights gained through this analysis provide policy recommendations for the designing of efforts to revitalize the physician-scientist career pipeline. Priorities should be given to institutional oversight to ensure strengthened self-efficacy at the beginning of one's academic career, by providing long-term research training opportunities to young residents and promoting co-publications with their training supervisors during the training. In order to avoid the negative impact to self-efficacy caused by patient-related burnout or academic isolation, academic medical centers should take measures to guarantee protected research time, and to develop a positive culture encouraging mentoring relationships between junior and experienced physician-scientists in medical departments.

The National Conference on Health Disparities Student Research Forum.

The annual National Conference on Health Disparities (NCHD) was launched in 2000. It unites health professionals, researchers, community leaders, and government officials, and is a catalyzing force in developing policies, research interventions, and programs that address prevention, social determinants, health disparities, and health equity. The NCHD Student Research Forum (SRF) was established in 2011 at the Medical University of South Carolina to build high-quality biomedical research presentation capacity in primarily underrepresented undergraduate and graduate/professional students. This paper describes the unique research training and professional development aspects of the NCHD SRF. These include guidance in abstract development, a webinar on presentation techniques and methods, a vibrant student-centric conference, and professional development workshops on finding a mentor and locating scholarship/fellowship funding, networking, and strategies for handling ethical issues in research with mentors. Between 2011 and 2018, 400 undergraduate and graduate/professional students participated in the NCHD SRF. Most students were women (80.5%). Approximately half were African American or black (52.3%), 18.0% were white, and 21.3% were of Hispanic/Latinx ethnicity. The NCHD SRF is unique in several ways. First, it provides detailed instructions on developing a scientific abstract, including content area examples. Second, it establishes a mandatory pre-conference training webinar demonstrating how to prepare a scientific poster. Third, it works with the research mentors, faculty advisors, department chairs, and deans to help identify potential sources of travel funding for students with accepted abstracts. These features make the NCHD SRF different from many other conferences focused on students' scientific presentations.

Student-centered Pipeline to Advance Research in Cancer Careers (SPARCC): Diversifying the Clinical Cancer Research Workforce.

A lack of diversity in the clinical cancer workforce causes undue burden limiting research and patient care advancements. Recruitment and retention of individuals underrepresented in medicine/research can enhance patient-provider concordance. The Student-centered Pipeline to Advance Research in Cancer Careers (SPARCC) uniquely prepares underrepresented minority students to quickly transition into the clinical research workforce and seek advanced graduate degrees. Experiential learning theory and culturally responsive pedagogy ground SPARCC's rigorous competency-based curriculum incorporating cancer care, clinical trial development, social supports, and mentored research experiences. Concurrent mixed-methods analysis includes evaluations of workshops, clinical-practicums, and pre-, post-, and 6-month-post-knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Analysis of data included stepwise multivariate regression analysis, Spearman's rho correlations, and assessments of inter-item reliability via Cronbach's alpha (IBM® SPSS® 24.0). Inductive content analysis coded phrases and analytic patterns were distilled enhancing descriptions of experiences. From January 2019 to March 2019, 62% of applications came from underrepresented minorities. Ten students were accepted, 90% identified as underrepresented minority. All ten students completed the pre-, post-, and 6-month-post-evaluations. Overall scores increased significantly from pre-evaluation to 6-month-post-evaluation. Evaluation data came from 431 responses of 60 workshops, with a mean score of 9.1 (10-point scale). Students completed three clinical practicums, which received an overall mean score of 8.2 (10-point scale). A robust curriculum, structured recruitment, diverse faculty, and comprehensive evaluations made SPARCC a compelling strategy for supporting underrepresented minority students to seek immediate employment as clinical research professionals or application to advanced graduate degree programs.

Cirujano académico, centro académico: su rol docencia, investigación y en la atención de pacientes / The academic surgeon, academic center: its teaching, research, and patient's assistance role

Resumen Un cirujano académico tiene características y atributos especiales que lo distinguen de otros cirujanos. Su misión no es solo asistencial, sino que además es un investigador, docente, comunicador, deber ejercer liderazgo, debe ser innovador. Además de su función primordial que es ofrecer la óptima atención de sus pacientes. Al estar inserto en un centro académico cumple estas funciones y se convierte, dado su prestigio, en un referente individual e institucional para la comunidad y los futuros cirujanos.

An academic surgeon has special characteristics and attributes that distinguish them from other surgeons. His mission is not only healthcare, but he is also a researcher, teacher, communicator, must exercise leadership, must be innovative and the final goal is his work is to offer optimal care for his patients. Being inserted in an academic center, it fulfills these functions and becomes, given its prestige, an individual and institutional reference for the community and future.

Implementation of a protocol to increase the academic productivity of cardiothoracic surgery resident physicians.

OBJECTIVE: Academic productivity during cardiothoracic surgery residency training is an important program metric, but is highly variable due to multiple factors. This study evaluated the influence of implementing a protocol to increase resident physicians' academic productivity in cardiac surgery. METHODS: A comprehensive protocol for cardiac surgery was implemented at our institution that included active pairing of residents with academically productive faculty, regular research meetings, centralized data storage and analysis with a core team of biostatisticians, a formal peer-review protocol for analytic requests, and project prioritization and feedback. We compared cardiothoracic surgery residents' academic productivity before implementation (July 2015-June 2017) versus after implementation (July 2017-June 2019). Academic productivity was measured by peer-reviewed articles, abstract presentations (oral or poster) at national cardiothoracic surgery meetings, and textbook chapters. RESULTS: Thirty-four resident physicians (from traditional and integrated programs) trained at our institution during the study. A total of 122 peer-reviewed articles were produced over the course of the study: 74 (60.7%) cardiac- and 48 (39.3%) thoracic-focused. The number of cardiac-focused resident-produced articles increased from 10 preimplementation to 64 postimplementation (0.61 vs 2.03 articles per resident; P < .01). Abstract oral or poster presentations also increased, from 11 to 40 (0.61 vs 1.33 abstracts per resident; P = .01). Textbook chapters increased from 4 to 15 following the intervention (0.22 vs 0.5 chapters per resident; P = .01). CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a dedicated protocol to facilitate faculty mentoring of resident research and streamline the data access, analysis, and publication process substantially improved cardiothoracic surgery residents' academic productivity.

Improving Representation of Underrepresented Minority (URM) Students in Oncology Biomedical Research Workforce: Outcome Evaluation from the ReTOOL Program.

The Research Training Opportunities for Outstanding Leaders (ReTOOL) program was implemented in 2012 to increase the representation of racial and ethnic minorities in the biomedical workforce. Specifically, the ReTOOL program aims to foster the capacity for scientific research among underserved populations as well as address the cultural appropriateness of research projects. This paper describes the impact of the ReTOOL program in enhancing the research training of underrepresented minority (URM) students. Forty URM students who completed the ReTOOL program between 2012 and 2019 were invited to participate in the program evaluation. The response rate was 73% with 29 participants. Of the 29 participants, 26 trainees self-identified as Black or African-American. A structured survey developed for the program was employed for data collection, using a Likert Scale ranging from 1 to 5, with 5 being the best. The item ratings ranged from 4.45 to 4.80. Responses to open-ended questions show that ReTOOL has been instrumental in socializing and acculturating participants into the habits of scientific thinking. The combined use of quantitative and qualitative inquiry depicts that ReTOOL has been highly successful in fostering participant enrollment in advanced health-related or professional degree programs.

Biomedical omics: first insights of a new MSc degree of the University of Milan.

The advent of technologies allowing the global analysis of biological phenomena, referred to as "omics" (genomics, epigenomics, proteomics, metabolomics, microbiomics, radiomics, and radiogenomics), has revolutionized the study of human diseases and traced the path for quantitative personalized medicine. The newly inaugurated Master of Science Program in Biomedical Omics of the University of Milan, Italy, aims at addressing the unmet need to create professionals with a broad understanding of omics disciplines. The course is structured over 2 years and admits students with a bachelor's degree in biotechnology, biology, chemistry, or pharmaceutical sciences. All teaching activities are fully held in English. A total of nine students enrolled in the first academic year and attended the courses of radiomics, genomics and epigenomics, proteomics, and high-throughput screenings, and their feedback was evaluated by means of an online questionnaire. Faculty with different backgrounds were recruited according to the subject. Due to restrictions imposed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, laboratory activities were temporarily suspended, while lectures, journal clubs, and examinations were mainly held online. After the end of the first semester, despite the difficulties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the course overall met the expectations of the students, specifically regarding teaching effectiveness, interpersonal interactions with the lecturers, and courses organization. Future efforts will be undertaken to better calibrate the overall workload of the course and to implement the most relevant suggestions from the students together with omics science evolution in order to guarantee state-of-the-art omics teaching and to prepare future omics specialists.

Publication Quality Following Short Summer Cancer Research Internships.

Publications of research conducted during short-term research education training programs serve as an outcome measure for students' successes and a program's value. We compared the impact of cancer publications from research conducted during a short-term cancer research education training program, to publications by program participants in the years following completion of the training program and earning an academic or professional degree. Bibliometrics and altmetrics from NIH, ResearchGate, Google Scholar and Scopus® that measure publication impact were collected on cancer publications by student interns in the CaRES (Cancer Research Experiences for Students) R25 program from 1999 to 2017; and on cancer publications in subsequent years by program alumni (students who completed CaRES). Publication characteristics and impact measures were described and compared. Of 558 publications, 206 (37%) were related to CaRES internship projects and 352 (63%) related to any cancer research in which program alumni engaged following their internships. CaRES project publications were cited more frequently and held a higher research interest score than later cancer publications by CaRES alumni but appeared in journals having lower impact factors (p < 0.05). A higher proportion of alumni were first authors of their publications as compared to first authorship by interns (p = 0.02). Research conducted during short-term cancer research programs can be scientifically meaningful and of comparable quality to publications by program alumni who engage in cancer research careers.

Facilitating Success of the Early Stage Surgeon Scientist Trainee: Growing the Surgeon Scientist Pipeline.

OBJECTIVE: Surgeon scientists bring to bear highly specialized talent and innovative and impactful solutions for complicated clinical problems. Our objective is to inform and provide framework for early stage surgeon scientist training and support. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Undergraduate, medical student, and residency experiences impact the career trajectory of surgeon scientists. To combat the attrition of the surgeon scientist pipeline, interventions are needed to engage trainees and to increase the likelihood of success of future surgeon scientists. METHODS: A surgery resident writing group at an academic medical center, with guidance from faculty, prepared this guidance document for early stage surgeon scientist trainees with integration of the published literature to provide context. The publicly available National Institutes of Health RePORTER tool was queried to provide data salient to early stage surgeon scientist training. RESULTS: The educational path of surgeons and the potential research career entry points are outlined. Challenges and critical supportive elements needed to inspire and sustain progress along the surgeon scientist training path are detailed. Funding mechanisms available to support formal scientific training of early stage surgeon scientists are identified and obstacles specific to surgical careers are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: This guidance enhances awareness of essential education, communication, infrastructure, resources, and advocacy by surgery leaders and other stakeholders to promote quality research training in residency and to re-invigorate the surgeon scientist pipeline.

Tisch Cancer Institute Scholars Program: Mentored Cancer Research Training Pipeline for Medical Students.

Cancer research has led to unprecedented advances in treatment in recent decades. Physician-scientists have played a crucial role in these advances given their unique perspective at the intersection between basic research and clinical care, though their representation in cancer research has been in progressive decline. Cancer research programs that feature strong mentorship at the medical student level are associated with increased likelihood of alumni choosing a cancer research career path. In an effort to increase the cancer research medical student training pipeline, senior research faculty from the Tisch Cancer Institute (TCI) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) developed the TCI Scholars Program, a rigorous mentored research training program funding medical students' summer research. This program is currently in its third year and has garnered significant interest among mentors and students alike from all four TCI Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG)-funded research programs. Herein, we describe the development, implementation, evaluation, and major outcomes of this program.

Strengthening the Mentorship and Leadership Capacity of HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis Researchers in South Africa.

Programs to increase emerging and established HIV and tuberculosis (TB) researchers' capacity to be more effective leaders and mentors are urgently needed in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although conceptual frameworks of mentoring and mentoring toolkits have been developed by and for researchers in LMIC settings, few mentor training programs have been implemented and evaluated in these settings. We created, implemented, and evaluated a 9-month, certificate-level mentorship training program to strengthen the pipeline of HIV and TB researchers in South Africa. Differentiating features of the program included careful contextualization of mentorship tools and approaches, inclusion of a leadership curriculum to improve participant ability to work effectively in teams and organizations, and attention to processes that promote interinstitutional collaboration in mentorship. Twelve mid-career researchers graduated from the first cohort of the program. Among participants, we observed significant longitudinal improvement in mentorship competencies, increased numbers of network connections in multiple domains of collaboration, and high levels of satisfaction. We anticipate that the program description and results will be useful to researchers, research institutions, and funders seeking to build research mentorship and leadership capacity in LMIC settings.

Potential Impact of COVID-19 Disruptions on the Next Generation of Vision Scientists.

Importance: Emerging vision scientists who have yet to be awarded their first independent funding may have their research careers disproportionately affected by early COVID-19-related disruptions. In September 2020, the Alliance for Eye and Vision Research convened a panel of 22 such scientists (nominated by their academic institutions) to communicate to the US Congress about the importance of vision research. As part of the effort, interviews were conducted with scientists about the effect of the pandemic on their research. Observations: Qualitative areas of adverse consequences from the early months of COVID-19 disruptions included striking interruptions of patient-based research, limits on other types of clinical research, loss of research time for scientists with young children (especially women), challenges with animal colonies and cell cultures, impediments to research collaborations, and loss of training time. Conclusions and Relevance: The early months during the COVID-19 pandemic increased career stress on many early-stage investigators in the vision field and delayed (and may potentially derail) their ability to attract their first independent research funding grant. As a result, federal and private granting agencies may need to take these factors into account to retain talented, early-stage vision researchers.

A Grant-Based Experiment to Train Clinical Investigators: The AACR/ASCO Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop.

To address the need for clinical investigators in oncology, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) established the Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop (MCCRW). The workshop's objectives were to: (i) provide training in the methods, design, and conduct of clinical trials; (ii) ensure that clinical trials met federal and international ethical guidelines; (iii) evaluate the effectiveness of the workshop; and (iv) create networking opportunities for young investigators with mentoring senior faculty. Educational methods included: (i) didactic lectures, (ii) Small Group Discussion Sessions, (iii) Protocol Development Groups, and (iv) one-on-one mentoring. Learning focused on the development of an Institutional Review Board (IRB)-ready protocol, which was submitted on the last day of the workshop. Evaluation methods included: (i) pre- and postworkshop tests, (ii) students' workshop evaluations, (iii) faculty's ratings of protocol development, (iv) students' productivity in clinical research after the workshop, and (v) an independent assessment of the workshop. From 1996 to 2014, 1,932 students from diverse backgrounds attended the workshop. There was a significant improvement in the students' level of knowledge from the pre- to the postworkshop exams (P < 0.001). Across the classes, student evaluations were very favorable. At the end of the workshop, faculty rated 92% to 100% of the students' protocols as ready for IRB submission. Intermediate and long-term follow-ups indicated that more than 92% of students were actively involved in patient-related research, and 66% had implemented five or more protocols. This NCI-sponsored MCCRW has had a major impact on the training of clinicians in their ability to design and implement clinical trials in cancer research.

Preparing historically underrepresented trainees for biomedical cancer research careers at Huntsman Cancer Institute/University of Utah Health.

Given the well-documented inequities in health care outcomes by race, ethnicity, and gender, many health career pipeline programs have focused on supporting the development of a diverse and inclusive workforce. The State of Utah, is vast, but sparsely populated outside the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. More than 96% of our nearly 85,000 square miles is designated rural (<100 people/square mile) or frontier (<7 people/square mile). The Salt Lake City area is home to the Hunsman Cancer Institute, the only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the region, also noted the limited diversity in the biomedical cancer research workforce. Our primary objective was to increase the number of underrepresented trainees who pursue higher education with the goal of a career in cancer research. PathMaker is a regional, competitive pipeline program that nurtures high school or undergraduate trainees from historically underrepresented backgrounds towards a career in cancer research. Our faculty and staff team collaboratively developed a cohort model curriculum that increased student awareness of research career options; provided academic and professional development, cultural and social support, evolutionary success strategies, active mentorship, and leadership skill development; and fostered an environment of continuous evaluation and improvement. Since pilot program initiation in May 2016, the PathMaker Research Program (PathMaker) has engaged a total of 44 underrepresented trainees in cancer research labs at Huntsman Cancer Institute, the majority still in college. Eleven trainees graduated college: five employed in STEM, one pursuing a PhD in STEM; two in medical school, and three are lost to follow-up. Alumni report high levels of satisfaction with PathMaker and will be followed and supported for academic success. PathMaker is a replicable model to increase diversity and inclusion in the biomedical cancer research workforce.

Impact of Medical Student Research Fellowships on Otolaryngology Match Outcomes.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: While many students participate in research years or fellowships prior to entering the otolaryngology-head and neck surgery (OHNS) match, the effects of these fellowships on match outcomes remains unclear. This study aimed to assess the impact of research fellowships on odds of matching into OHNS. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis. METHODS: Applications from first-time, US allopathic seniors between the 2014-2015 and the 2019-2020 application cycles were reviewed. Data were abstracted from Electronic Residency Application Service applications and match results determined using the National Residency Matching Program database and online public sources. The relationship between research fellowships and matching was analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Of the 1775 applicants included, nearly 16% (n = 275) participated in research fellowships and 84.1% matched (n = 1492). Research fellows were no more likely to match into OHNS than non-research fellows (86.9% vs. 83.5%, unadjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.31, P = .161), even when adjusting for applicant characteristics (predicted probability [PP]: 88.8% vs. 85.8%, adjusted OR 1.31, P = .210). For applicants from top 25 medical schools, however, research fellowships were associated with higher odds of matching (PP: 96.5% vs. 90.0%, adjusted OR 3.07, P = .017). In addition, completing a fellowship was associated with significantly greater odds of matching into a top 25 OHNS residency program (PP: 58.6% vs. 30.5%, adjusted OR 3.24, P < .001). CONCLUSION: Fellowships may be beneficial for select applicants, though for most, they are not associated with improved odds of matching. These findings provide context for OHNS residency candidates considering research fellowships and should be carefully weighed against other potential advantages and disadvantages of fellowships. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: NA Laryngoscope, 131:E2506-E2512, 2021.