Colorado StARR Program (CSP)

The overall goal of the Colorado StARR Program (CSP) is to recruit, train, and retain outstanding resident- investigators focused on translational research in heart, lung, and blood disorders. The initial cycle of the CSP (3/1/2020-2/29/2024) was funded to support 3 scholars per year, and we are requesting support for 4 scholars per year in the renewal application. In the initial cycle of the CSP, we have: 1) successfully established our Program on campus, 2) developed strong interest and a positive reputation among several housestaff programs, 3) extended our Program to include Surgery housestaff (in addition to Medicine and Pediatric housestaff), 4) partnered with the University of Pittsburgh for a research survey course, 5) established an effective approach to ongoing oversight of the mentor-mentee relationship, and 6) fostered a community of physician-scientist trainees at CU including StARR scholars, MSTP students, PSTP trainees, and early faculty. To date, we have committed to support 11 scholars for a total of 12 years of resident-investigator support (2 scholars have completed the program but have not yet transitioned to fellowship, 6 are currently supported by the program, and 3 will initiate their mentored research in the latter half of 2023), and we plan two more recruitment cycles (spring and fall, 2023). The CSP will continue to provide a career defining research experience by leveraging a successful clinical and research enterprise that includes outstanding Medicine, Pediatric, and Surgical housestaff, a diverse spectrum of accomplished, experienced, and committed mentors, state-of-the-art clinical and research facilities, and successful fellowship and collaborative research training programs in heart, lung, and blood disorders. The CSP is designed to provide our resident-investigators with a comprehensive, integrated, and formal career development experience with the goal of positioning them to become the next generation of academic leaders in heart, lung, and blood disorders. This research training and career development will be achieved with planned periods of research and clinical responsibilities that have been approved to lead to board-eligibility in Medicine, Pediatrics, or Surgery, a structured milestone-driven training program that includes individualized career development plans, pairing our resident-investigators with outstanding, dedicated mentors with extensive disease- specific research expertise and a wide array of cutting-edge approaches to research, and providing appropriate oversight of the mentor-mentee relationship. Our vision is to: x Train the next generation of highly skilled and engaged academic leaders x Provide cutting-edge research training opportunities in broad areas of heart, lung, and blood disorders x Ensure access to a wide range of cutting-edge methodology/technology to enrich the experience x Achieve the highest standard of excellence for mentorship and research training x Foster values that sustain and enrich research careers in academic medicine, including team science