Dates Changed, Deadline Extended
for ASBMT Clinical Research Training Course 

The dates for this year's ASBMT Clinical Research Training Course for fellows-in-training and junior faculty have been changed to July 30-Aug. 4.  

March 15 is the new application deadline.

Tuition, travel, housing and meal expenses will be paid by the Society for 16 scholars to attend the course in Park City, Utah.   Participants will be competitively selected.  Preference will be given to fellows and faculty with no more than two years of BMT experience following training or a faculty appointment.

The course directors are Daniel Weisdorf, MD, of the University of Minnesota and Nelson Chao, MD, of Duke University.  They, respectively, are past-secretary and past-president of ASBMT.

Course Objectives

The concept of a clinical research training course emanated from a Board of Directors strategic planning retreat.  “The board members felt that existing fellowship programs don’t adequately train clinical fellows in the principles of clinical research in blood and marrow transplantation,” said Armand Keating, MD, ASBMT past-president and chair of the committee to develop the training course.  “Training programs for fellows rarely adequately cover the principles of taking basic research findings from the laboratory to the clinic.

“Most programs also don’t prepare the best young physicians for academic careers in blood and marrow transplantation.  The ASBMT training course addresses those deficiencies and helps close the gap,” Dr. Keating said.

Curriculum

The research training course will include formal presentations by faculty and extensive follow-up dialogue and small-group discussion, covering topics such as:

·         Research subject eligibility and recruitment

·         Clinical trial statistics

·         Data management and quality control

·         Study endpoints

·         Late effects and quality of life

·         Clinical pharmacology, including polypharmacy and drug interactions

·         Regulatory compliance

·         Relationships with pharmaceutical companies and third-party payers

·         Opportunities for grants and clinical research training

·         Grant writing

·         Working with a mentor

·         Translational trials

·         Working with laboratory investigators

·         Research ethics

·         Subject safety

The 2008 program will emphasize more trial design, ethics and biostatistics and will include more case studies.  Some topics will be addressed in group discussion led by several members of the faculty. 

Each participant will be expected to have a research project that can be developed in discussions with faculty and with peers.

Faculty

The faculty for the course will be established investigators, participating in the course for multiple days to work with and mentor the trainees. 

The faculty members are expected to share their career stories and anecdotes.  They will tell how they got where they are and the lessons learned along with way. 

Free time for rest, recreation and creative thinking will be built into the schedule.

Eligibility and Application

Applicants must be ASBMT members or sponsored by an ASBMT member.  For purposes of this program, “junior faculty” is defined as two years or less teaching in the BMT field.  

A 2-5 page letter of application is required, providing the applicant’s background, training, interest in blood and marrow transplantation and clinical research, career goals and an outline of a research project to be further developed during the course. 

Details of the proposed research project should be a major portion of the application letter.  The applicant must have a local mentor with whom to work in implementation of the research project after the course. 

Applicant selection will be based on curriculum vitae, proposed project, local mentor and, all other things being equal, regional representation. 

Send letter of application to:

     ASBMT Transplant Clinical Research Training Course
     85 West Algonquin Road, Suite 550

     Arlington Heights, IL  60005

Applicant selections will be announced on or about April 1.  The training course at the Park City Hotel will begin on Wednesday evening, July 30, and conclude at noon on Monday, Aug. 4.