The Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC)/Extension for Community Healthcare Options (ECHO) Clinical Investigators’ Program (the “Program”) is designed to train junior M.D., Ph.D., R.D., PharmD, and R.N. faculty at the University of New Mexico’s Health Sciences Center in the process of initiating, conducting, and reporting clinical research. Since its inception, over fifty young investigators have participated in the Program.
To successfully complete the Program participants must:
Regularly consult with their assigned mentor
Complete the ten Program modules described below
Attend no fewer than twelve of the monthly dinner meetings
Make no fewer than three presentations at these monthly dinner meetings.
Dr. Sanjeev Arora and Dr. Anne Simpson in
attendance at the monthly Scholars' Meeting.
The ten to fifteen junior faculty enrolled in the 24-month Program have come from the College of Nursing, the College of Pharmacy and departments in the School of Medicine including Emergency Medicine, Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Family Practice, Internal Medicine, Family and Community Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Neurology, Pediatrics, and Psychiatry. New participants may enter the Program at any time provided there is a vacancy.
Consult with Mentor
The Program is based on the paradigm that a clinical researcher learns best by actually doing research. To facilitate this research and learning, each participant is assigned to a mentor who is an experienced clinical investigator. The investigator and her/is mentor meet regularly, ideally once a week. Then mentor provides guidance on the completion of ten different program modules.
Dr. Arpad Zolyomi and Clifford Qualls waiting
for next presentation to begin at the Scholars' Meeting.
The Ten Modules
The study design and completion module requires completion of an original research project. Projects may originate from several sources, including the participant’s research interests, collaboration with other M.D.s or Ph.D.s, or ongoing clinical trials.
The statistical competence module requires interaction with the CTSC statistician in planning the research project, performing a power analysis, and analyzing the final study data.
The computer literacy module requires the participant to become computer literate, enter data into a spreadsheet for statistical analysis, and master a computer graphics program.
Submit a protocol to the IRB for the research study.
Submit the protocol to the CTSC.
Request funding for the research project not directly provided by the CTSC from the Research Allocation Committee or similar local funding source.
Present and discuss the research project at one or more of the monthly evening seminars.
Submit an abstract to a scientific meeting of the results of the research project.
The research data must be presented at a local research meeting.
Submit a finalized manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal.
As part of the Program, all investigators, mentors, and support personnel meet once a month in the evening at a local restaurant. All participants must attend a minimum of 12 of these meetings.
Present at Monthly Evening Seminars
At the monthly evening seminars, a CTSC/ECHO investigator presents his or her research and responds to questions from the other participants. Emphasis is placed on the experimental method and study design, as well as proficiency in scientific presentations. In addition, a different CTSC/ECHO investigator presents a current ethical issue in research. A third CTSC/ECHO investigator presents a short historical review on a past clinical investigator who made major contributions to clinical research. Each investigator makes no fewer than three presentations to the monthly evening seminars—one abstract, one on an ethical issue in biomedical research, and one on the history of medicine.
Ron Sanders, Analyst/Programmer at the GCRC
presenting on RedCap at the Scholars' Meeting
Faculty of the CTSC/ECHO Clinical Investigators Program
The faculty of the CTSC/ECHO Clinical Investigators Program is composed of individuals with expertise required for clinical research. Six mentors are available, all of whom have broad experience in clinical research including NIH grants. The mentor meets frequently with the assigned mentee(s) and guides them in their research efforts. In addition, the CTSC statisticians, Clifford Qualls and Ron Schrader, attend the monthly evening seminars, make presentations on issues in statistics, and help the investigators with their power analyses and analyses of the results of their studies. The CTSC informatics systems manager, Lori Sloane, attends the monthly evening seminars, makes presentations on issues in informatics, and meets with the investigators to help enhance their data management and presentation skills. This faculty, composed of experts in clinical research, statistics, and computerization forms a very broad base of knowledge that greatly benefits the investigators in their quest for ethically and scientifically sound human research.
Results
Since entering the Program, young investigators have succeeded in securing funding to support their research and in publishing their results. Investigators in the Program received 89 grants and contracts to conduct research totaling nearly $7 million from federal agencies, pharmaceutical companies, and other sources.
After they entered the Program both the number of investigators with publications and the average number of publications per investigator increased by well over 200%.
Support
Funding for the Program comes from the Deans of the colleges and the individual departments or divisions of the participating faculty member’s. There is no cost to the investigators who participate.
Fellows
Fellows may participate in the CTSC/ECHO Clinical Investigators Program on a limited basis. Contact the Office of Research for more information.
For questions or more information, please contact either:
David S. Schade, M.D.
Director,
CTSC/ECHO Clinical Investigators Program
Phone: (505) 272-4657
Dr. David Schade in clinic.
OR
Christine Pacheco, Sr. Contract and Grant Administrator
Department of Internal Medicine
Phone: (505) 272-6330
