PhD Program in Clinical and Translational Science

The PhD Program in Clinical and Translational Science is the newest academic program offered by the ICRE. It is a rigorous training program designed to teach clinicians to conduct high-quality clinical and translational research, and it is a central component of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Research Education and Career Development Core.

The PhD program provides students with advanced knowledge of research concepts and gives them the skills and opportunities to conduct innovative research and to develop into independent investigators. The program’s didactic curriculum includes courses in clinical research methods and analytic methods, with advanced requirements in the specific methodologies that students will need to complete their research specialization. Directed, mentored research begins early in the program, allowing students to develop expertise in planning and conducting an independent research project that will become the basis of their dissertation.

As with all of the ICRE programs, the PhD program encourages multidisciplinary work. It provides multidisciplinary mentoring and requires that dissertation committees have representation from two or more disciplines.

In 2011, the program graduated its first students. Additionally, in 2011, two students from the Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/PhD) were accepted into the PhD Program in Clinical and Translational Science. One of these students began courses in July 2011, and the other will begin in July 2013.

The program leadership is actively involved in graduate training at the national level. In 2011, the program led a project in cooperation with the Education Key Function Committee of the Clinical and Translational Science Award Consortium. This project was designed to survey all PhD programs in clinical and translational science throughout the United States, with the goal of understanding the current state and future needs of doctoral education in this field.

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