CTSA Research Education R25 at University of California at Davis: Student Physician-Scientist Early Research Experiences (SPHERE) Academy

About This Grant

PROJECT SUMMARY The primary mission of the UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) Research Education Program (R25), titled “Student Physician-Scientist Early Research Experiences (SPHERE),” is to accelerate the development of a workforce to address the nation’s biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs by strengthening foundational skills and professional identity in clinical and translational science among first-year medical students aspiring to careers as physician-scientists. The medical and health science communities currently lack efficient and effective strategies for developing a robust physician-scientist workforce. The focus of the SPHERE Academy is first-year medical students, because early, structured exposure to clinical and translational research – prior to completion of a terminal degree – is an underutilized but promising strategy to build a physician-scientist workforce prepared to generate scientific and operational innovations that address barriers along the translational research pipeline. The SPHERE Academy MPIs bring extensive expertise as researchers and medical educators and currently serve as directors of the Academic Research Careers for Medical Doctors (ARC-MD) program at UC Davis, a five-year longitudinal training experience for medical students established in 2019. Building upon the successful ARC-MD program, this R25 incorporates lessons learned and addresses identified challenges. This new CTSC- integrated Academy is distinct from the ARC-MD program in that it (1) expands to include students who are not in ARC-MD and seek a standalone one-year program, (2) adds an oversight structure with three advisory boards, (3) delivers ten weeks of research experiences co-led by 27 faculty with expertise spanning disciplines and stages of the translational science spectrum, (4) includes a community engagement plan, (5) adds a rigorous evaluation component, and (6) develops a novel Physician Translational Scientist Academy toolkit. The SPHERE Academy will utilize UC Davis CTSC resources to cultivate cohorts of medical students equipped to maximize their research development during medical school and promote a more efficient and impactful physician-scientist pipeline. The goals for this R25 are: (1) deliver a two-phase, ten-week research experience that builds clinical and translational science skills and identity among a cohort of student physician-scientists, (2) partner with a community engagement board of the UC Davis CTSC to inform and enhance the research experiences in the SPHERE Academy, and (3) evaluate and disseminate the implementation and impact of the SPHERE Academy. Through its innovative structure, targeted focus, and integration with the CTSC, the SPHERE Academy is positioned to serve as a scalable model for early physician-scientist training across academic medical centers nationwide.