T32 AND K12 PROGRAMS

T32 Program

Director:   George M. Stancel, PhD
Coordinator: Patricia Cruz Bruesch (Patricia.Cruz@uth.tmc.edu) 713-500-9874

The CCTS T32 program provides stipends for PhD students whose dissertation research is clearly translational or addresses a problem that has direct clinical implications and provides didactic courses, seminars, and other training activities.  The program also supports the training and career development of postdoctoral fellows within UTHSC-H and M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The goal of the program is to train truly interdisciplinary researchers by a meaningful blending of programs and disciplines that have been traditionally operated as stand-alone entities within schools of the UTHSC-H or units within M. D. Anderson.

Eligibility and Criteria for PhD Students

The program provides up to three years of support for stipends, tuition, benefits, travel and modest research training related expenses.  The program is open to:

• PhD students in the UTHSC-H Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS), School of Public Health (SPH), School of Nursing (SON) and School of Health Information Sciences (SHIS)
• MD/PhD or DDS/PhD students during the time they are enrolled in GSBS for the PhD portion of their training
•  Stipends are most often provided to students who have already selected a doctoral dissertation project, but under special circumstances stipend support will be considered for beginning doctoral students (i.e., without a master’s degree) who wish to design an individualized, dual-degree curriculum in which they receive the MS from one UTHSC-H school and the PhD from another (this option requires acceptance by both participating schools).
• In addition to students pursuing a PhD via the traditional pathway in one of the schools noted above, applications are also welcomed from students pursing the PhD who:
  • Have (or are about to complete) an MS degree in a biomedical or related discipline different from the one in which they will pursue the PhD
  • Already hold a professional degree (MPH, MD, DDS, MS in Nursing, etc.)
  • Already have a master's degree froma type of institution (e.g., a school of public health) different from the type of institution (e.g., graduate school of nursing) in which they are now pursing the doctorate.
• Stipends are only available to U.S. citizens or permanent residents, but all UTHSC-H students may participate in other T32 program activities with permission.  NIH regulations do not permit the provision of stipends for students pursuing a professional degree or for students in dual-degree programs (e.g., MD/PhD or DDS/PhD) while they are enrolled in the professional school portion of their training. 

Eligibility and Criteria fo Postdoctoral Fellows

The program provides up to two years of support including salary, partial cost of benefits, travel and modest research training related expenses. The program is open to:

• Postdoctoral fellows at UTHSC-H and M. D. Anderson Cancer Center with:
  • Ph.D., M.D., D.D.S., or comparable doctoral degree from an accredited domestic or foreign institution by the time of appointment
  • No more than two years of prior postdoctoral training experience
  • U.S. Citizen or permanent resident
  • Postdoctoral fellows will be required to sign a payback agreement form:
    http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/416/phs6031.pdf

Applying to the T32 Program

Applications for T32 stipend support are solicited once each year in December - January for awards that begin in April.

Appointments to the training grant are for a minimum of 12 months with an option of competitive renewals for a maximum of three (3) years for pre-docs and two (2) years for post-docs contingent upon annual reviews to evaluate performance and meeting program expectations.

All trainees receiving stipend support are expected to develop a curriculum/training plan that will enable them to obtain core competencies in clinical and translational research.  These competencies are obtained by conducting dissertation research, completing clinical and translational courses offered by participating CCTS schools and institutions, and participating in seminars, internships, research retreats, and other activities that provide training in clinical and translational research.  Trainees receiving stipend support also have access to the CCTS Core Laboratories and other CCTS services to support their dissertation research.

Courses and other activities are open to all UTHSC-H students and UTHSC-H and M. D. Anderson trainees and junior faculty and are not limited to individuals receiving stipend support.  Certain activities may also be open to part-time, non-degree, or other special students at UTHSC-H, M. D. Anderson, and other TMC institutions.  Please note that an employee of any TMC institution may register in GSBS as a non-degree student for one course each semester with the permission of his or her supervisor and the approval of the course director and Dean of GSBS.    

For more information on eligibility for stipend support, application deadlines, or participating in other T32 or CCTS-related courses or activities, please contact Ms. Patricia Cruz Bruesch (Patricia.Cruz@uth.tmc.edu) 713-500-9874.

For additional information about doctoral programs available in UTHSC-H schools, please see the following links

• Dental Branch
• Graduate School of Biomedical Science
• School of Health Information Sciences
• School of Nursing
• School of Public Health

or contact Ms. Bruesch.  

THE T32 PROGRAM IS NOT CURRENTLY ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS. 

THE NEXT CALL FOR APPLICATIONS WILL BE IN DECEMBER 2009. 

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

K12 Program

Director:    Jon Tyson, MD, MPH
Contact persons:   Alice Reardon (Alice.J.Reardon@uth.tmc.edu) 713-500-5651
                              Claudette Ocampo  (Claudette.Ocampo@uth.tmc.edu) 713-500-5637

The CCTS K12 program supports the training and career development of medical fellows (with MD, DO, DDS, or DSN degrees) and of instructors and assistant professors (with MD, DO, DDS, DSN, PhD, RPh, or PharmD degrees) conducting clinical or translational research.  The program provides salary support  up to 75% of the total salary and $10,000 to $15,000 yearly for research and education costs.  Funding is for up to 2 years for fellows and up to 3 years for instructors and assistant professors.

All applicants must be engaged in or preparing to conduct clinical or translational research and must be able to complete the entire funding period at UTHSC-H or M. D. Anderson.  Each applicant's department chair must confirm that the applicant will have protected time commensurate with the percent salary support the K12 program will supply. (In calculating percent protected time, the denominator must be the total institutional activities for which an individual is compensated by his or her institution.  This includes time in house for patient care/call at night and on weekends.)  Applicants must be US citizens or resident aliens. 
 
Each trainee will conduct a research study under the supervision of a senior faculty mentor and complete the core curriculum at UTHSC-H Clinical Research Curriculum or at M. D. Anderson .  Trainees will also propose and complete individualized career development plans that include a statement of career goals and any additional training (beyond the core curriculum) that will be undertaken to complete them. 

THE K12 PROGRAM IS NOT CURRENTLY ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS. 

THE NEXT CALL FOR APPLICATIONS WILL BE IN JANUARY 2010.

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

CCTS Trainees, Scholars, and Associate Members Dinner

August 7, 2007

The CCTS’s T32 trainees, K12 scholars, and associate members (new investigators supported by the CCTS through other mechanisms) met August 7 to discuss their research and forge new collaborations.  Many were surprised at the common themes among studies being performed in difference CCTS institutions.  For instance, several M. D. Anderson and UTHSC-H investigators realized they all were addressing aspects of inflammation.

(above) John McAuliffe (T32 trainee and student in the PhD program in Patient-Based Biological Research; Sarcoma Medical Oncology, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center); Ashley Hood Jagar (T32 trainee; Neuroscience, UTHSC-H); Emily Jen (T32 trainee; Experimental Therapeutics, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center); Scott Evans, MD (K12 scholar; Pulmonary Medicine, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center); Sandeep Agarwal, MD (CCTS associate member; Rheumatology; UTHSC-H Medical School).	(above) Eyal Muscal, MD (CCTS associate member and student in the Masters Program in Clinical Research; Pediatrics/Rheumatology, Baylor College of Medicine), describes his studies on cognitive impairment in pediatric lupus.
(above) Eyal Muscal, MD (CCTS associate member and student in the Masters Program in Clinical Research; Pediatrics/Rheumatology, Baylor College of Medicine); Kenneth Helmer, MD (K12 scholar; Surgery, UTHSC-H Medical School); Lillian Kao, MD, MS (CCTS associate member and graduate of the Masters Program in Clinical Research; Surgery, UTSHC-H Medical School); Sherwin Assassi, MD (CCTS associate member and student in the Masters Program in Clinical Research; Rheumatology, UTHSC-H Medical School);  Frank Arnett, MD (Executive Director, CCTS); Jayasimha Murthy, MD (K12 scholar; Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, UTSHC-H Medical School).	(above) Kamal Busaidy, DDS (CCTS associate member and student in the Masters Program in Clinical Research; Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, UTHSC-H Dental Branch), discusses his work on osteonecrosis of the jaw due to bisphosphonate treatment, a therapy for some cancers.