Clinical Therapeutics

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT This NIH T32 postdoctoral training program in Clinical Therapeutics at the University of Chicago (UC) represents a diverse, nurturing, and scientifically stimulating environment whose educational purpose is the advanced research training of clinicians and translational scientists in clinical pharmacology, pharmacogenomics and therapeutics, with a goal of sustaining and expanding the future workforce within these important fields. Accredited by the American Board of Clinical Pharmacology, our training program operates within the rigorous educational and research climate of the UC Committee on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics (CCPP), a formal interdepartmental academic unit responsible for the administration of the training program and housing its research and training faculty. Peter H. O’Donnell, MD, CCPP Chair, directs the program along with Mark J. Ratain, MD. The multi-PD/PIs are assisted in program leadership by an Executive Committee, a Fellowship Recruitment and Selection Committee, an Education Committee, and an External Advisory Committee. Within UC, the program fulfills an exclusive niche, providing focused training to individuals having a clinical background (MDs, MD/PhDs, PharmDs, PharmD/PhDs, or select PhDs with a clinical focus). Many trainees enter the program while also pursuing subspecialty clinical fellowship training. This opportunity for dual fellowship training within a chosen subspecialty clinical area combined with clinical pharmacology creates a foundational research expertise that promotes the development of impactful scientific contributions within the realm of clinical therapeutics. Our fellowship program provides primary protected research time for advanced training in a chosen research area, structured as a mentored, hypothesis-driven two-year arc designed by the trainee and their mentor(s) and approved by the Executive Committee. This is supplemented by formal programmatic didactic coursework, experiential learning rotations, teaching opportunities, and clinical exposure in personalized therapeutics through a required rotation in the UC Personalized Therapeutics Clinic. Although the primary mission is to prepare clinicians for an academic research career, the program also has successfully trained scientists for prominent careers in government and industry. Upon completion of the program, graduates are accomplished in basic research methodology, experimental design, and data interpretation and presentation, and are uniquely prepared for a competitive research career in clinical therapeutics, as well as certification in Clinical Pharmacology.