Child Health Research Career Development Award (CHRCDA) Program at Children's National

ABSTRACT The purpose of the Child Health Research Career Development Award (CHRCDA) Program at the Children’s National Hospital (CNH) is to facilitate the development of successful basic, translational, and clinical research careers for junior faculty members in pediatrics across the T0-T4 spectrum. The rationale for the program is that while many opportunities exist to use molecular biology, biomedical engineering, and translational science to advance treatment of pediatric diseases, the comprehensive scientific knowledge and practical experience that are required to capitalize on these opportunities are often deficient among young pediatrician-investigators who have recently finished extended periods of clinical training. The CHRCDA at CNH addresses this need by providing sufficient protected time for nascent scientists during their initial academic appointment. In our program, scholars will: 1) take coursework in basic, translational, or clinical science areas relevant to their research; 2) learn state-of-the art laboratory and computational methodologies; 3) develop preliminary data under the supervision of established and committed mentors that will lead to submission of independent NIH grant applications; and 4) learn to effectively advance accomplishments in basic, translational, and clinical research into improvements in child health. In order to accomplish these goals, the CHRCDA scholars will spend at least 75% effort honing these skills under the mentorship of established investigators/mentors over a 2-4 year period (depending on past experience and area of investigation). During this period, each of the above tasks will be addressed in a systematic fashion, including participation in a core curriculum in research methodology and biostatistics, in training in responsible conduct of research, and in performance of increasingly independent research under supervising senior investigators. We will fund three scholars annually at the Assistant Professor level with a specific goal of enhancing scholar diversity through aggressive outreach and recruitment. We will have 21 senior mentors in four scientific affinity groups: neuroscience, molecular genetics, cancer and immunology, and biomedical engineering. The administrative structure will include two Principal Investigators/Program Directors, a Training Director, an Executive Committee, and an external Advisory Committee. The outcomes of this program will be measured by the products of the scholars’ subsequent academic careers: publications and independent external grant support. In this renewal application we introduce several innovations including: expansion of funded research to include T2-T4 science with recruitment of a cadre of appropriate mentors, new pipeline programs to increase our pool of candidates including two R38 awards to fund research among pediatric residents, significant capital investments including the new Children’s National Research and Innovation campus, adaptations for the unique challenges of training during the COVID-19 pandemic, an expanded commitment to diversity, and inclusion of junior mentors to be paired with our senior mentors to “train the trainers.”