The Clinical Translational Research Certificate of Added Qualification Program

We are requesting continued support for the successful interdisciplinary Clinical Translational Research Certificate of Added Qualification (CTR-CAQ) training program for all graduate students enrolled in any of the PhD-awarding graduate programs at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). The premise for the CTR-CAQ program is that a translational research training program, accessible to all graduate students at BCM, is vital to develop and sustain a qualified research workforce in the translational subdisciplines of biomedical science. Our overarching mission is to train and develop the career paths of highly motivated students, who aim to become future leaders of multidisciplinary teams that will realize the human health benefits of molecular medicine discoveries through rigorous clinical translational research. The CTR-CAQ program has strong support from BCM leadership and aligns tightly with BCM’s mission as a major health sciences university. It is supported by the exceptional infrastructure for clinical and translational research at BCM and top-tier affiliated hospitals and clinicals within the expansive Texas Medical Center. This rigorous two-year program provides students with integrated education in the foundational knowledge and professional skills required for effective translational research. Our primary objectives are: (1) to prepare students for careers in translational research by combining formative didactic teaching, skill development workshops, and experiential learning in clinical research settings with a mentored translational research capstone project deliverable; (2) to effectively integrate this program with the training in the primary PhD training programs; (3) to develop and monitor best mentorship practices; (4) to formally evaluate programmatic and individual outcomes during and after students participate in the CTR-CAQ program. In this renewal application, we have innovated on our strategies for: (a) Recruitment and retention of talented and motivated students in the translational workforce; (b) Mentor training, mentor collaboration, and mentorship oversight; (c) Practical skill development and career preparedness for translational research, including training in regulatory knowledge and its practical application in meaningful team-based science, and in leadership; (d) Formal evaluation of overall programmatic effectiveness, individual perceived benefits during the trainee trajectory through the program, and of short- and long-term outcomes upon completion of the program. We added new education elements in this renewal application, such as didactics on clinical data science, that are aligned with the required knowledge for the translational researchers of the “Learning Health Systems” of the future who can realize the human health benefit of molecular medicine discoveries. Reported experience from the first four years of this program are evidence of its success. To date, we have offered training to 64 graduate students of which 32 were supported by this T32; 29 have received their CAQ and 37 are still in the program; 6 have graduated with their PhD and are pursuing further training or are in research-related careers.