Many graduate medical education programs at UCSF are working to facilitate clinical and translational research opportunities for residents who plan to make research a part of their careers. The Clinical and Translational Science Training Hub has established a research elective and other initiatives to help promote residents' career development. The goals are to create opportunities for all residents to gain a foundational understanding of clinical and translational research methods and evidence-based medicine skills, and to inspire and facilitate residents to pursue future opportunities for career development as investigators.
The program is comprised of training, career development, courses, funding opportunities for clinical research, and travel to present findings at scientific meetings; and an annual research symposium.
RRTP Ambassadors
The Resident Research Training Program has appointed ambassadors for each residency program. The ambassadors will provide guidance and information to residents interested in pursuing research training. Please click on a department's name for information on that program.
Designing Clinical Research Course
Designing Clinical Research for Residents (Epi 150.03) is a course that requires 50% protected time and is taught twice a year, in August and September, in a one-month format. Modeled after the highly successful Summer Clinical Research Workshop of the Training in Clinical Research (TICR) program, the elective will lead residents through the essential components for writing a clinical research protocol, developed around their own clinical research question. The tangible product of the course is a 5-page clinical research protocol. The residents will attend bi-weekly group lectures and small resident-only seminar groups led by core faculty for the CTST resident initiative with additional faculty participating to meet resident enrollment.
NOTE: It is very strongly recommended for those applying to Resident Research Funding and Resident Research Travel to have successfully completed the Designing Clinical Research (DCR) course or equivalent didactic training in clinical research.
We are limiting DCR registration to the first 40 residents.
There are a number of courses in clinical and translational research available to residents. For those residents with at least one year of protected time for research, we encourage enrollment in the Advanced Training in Clinical Research Program Certificate Program (ATCR). Residents pursuing ATCR without departmental support should consult CTST to determine the availability of tuition assistance.
Mentor of the Year Award
2023-2024: Judith Hellman, MD nominated by Alexendar Perez
"Judith Hellman is a phenomenal mentor. When I first approached her with the idea of investigating transposable elements in sepsis, she was supportive in a way that is uncommon in science. Not only did she open up her own lab to execute the project, but she also suggested and recruited Matthieu Legrand (ICU physician-scientist) to help enable the project to be rolled out into the UCSF ICUs. She spends time not only discussing my science but also reviewing my IRB drafts. She always ensures we have time to meet and she works behind the scenes to allow me to have additional resources and opportunities to ensure my project’s success. In addition to being a great scientific mentor, she is also an awesome human being to work with. She is kind and patient and grants me a lot of freedom to approach the science in the way I think is best. In addition to being a mentor, Judith is also a sponsor. She recently listed me as a co-investigator on one of her R01 grant applications and involved me significantly in the R01 preparation process. This experience will pay dividends for me in a few years when I apply for an R series grant. Finally, Judith is currently my mentor for a FAER Research Fellowship Grant, as well as the mentor for a NIGMS K08 grant and the Burroughs Wellcome CAMS grant I submitted during my StARR year to further my research. I am currently a Finalist for the Burroughs Wellcome CAMS grant. Overall, I recommend Judith Hellman in the highest and most unreserved regard."
In addition to announcing the Mentor of the Year Award recipient, the RRTP would like to acknowledge the following mentors who were nominated for the award this year. Each mentor has made significant contributions to the research and career path of their mentee. The RRTP would like to express our sincerest thanks and gratitude to the mentors below, as well as to the many outstanding mentors at UCSF that make this program possible.
Steven Altschuler, PhD, nominated by Susan Shen
Hemal Kanzaria, MS, MD, nominated by Christina Wang
Stephanie Holm, MD, MPH, PhD, nominated by Rupesh Patel
Nicholas Kolaitis, MAS, MD, nominated by Zoe Lyon
Jessica Rubin, MD, MPH, nominated by Ava Runge
Laura Huppert, MD, nominated by Samantha Fisch