NIH T-32 Research Training Grant

The overall goal of this Institutional National Research Service Award is to build on the success of our current T32 award. To date, we have admitted 10 trainees to our interdisciplinary research training program in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, providing these new investigators with the knowledge, skills, and experience needed for a productive academic career in clinical or health services research. This Training Program in Geriatrics and Gerontology seeks to produce independent academic investigators in clinical and health services research, whose focus is improving function and quality of life in older adults. The program accepts 2 postdoctoral fellows per year for a 2-year training program. Recognizing the strong nursing candidates that have enrolled in the training program to date, we will continue to recruitment from the School of Nursing. Approximately half of the trainees will be recruited from the Geriatric Medicine fellowship based at Monroe Community Hospital, and the other half will be recruited from the School of Nursing’s Center for Clinical Research on Aging.

This is a 3-part training program:

The latter two components of this training plan will utilize the Rochester Clinical and Translational Research Curriculum (RCTRC), a highly successful program supported by a CTSA award to train clinical researchers. Mentors will be chosen from 6 research “clusters”: cardiology, neuropsychiatry, oncology / palliative care, infectious diseases, geriatric health services, and metabolic bone disease. With guidance from the directors, trainees will construct a mentorial panel consisting of a research mentor and one or more faculty advisors. By the end of the 2-year program, trainees will be prepared to transition to junior faculty, as they continue their research endeavors.

The required curriculum consists of two components: Skill Building Workshops and Didactic Courses

Clinical Research Seminars and Skills Workshops

The RCTRC Seminar series is a one-hour weekly meeting that continues throughout the training period. It includes presentations from UR training mentors, guest lecturers, experts in technological innovations in clinical research, as well as trainee presentations. Since this seminar series is a component of the RCTRC, geriatrics trainees will have an opportunity to interact with trainees from many different fields and disciplines, and receive feedback on their research from a multidisciplinary group. The skills workshops will address issues important to clinical research. The specific workshops and time commitments for each are as follows:

Summer Year I

Introduction to Clinical and Translational Research Participants will receive an overview of the types of clinical research including patient- oriented research, epidemiology, behavioral sciences and health services research, with an emphasis on research ongoing at URSMD. 2 sessions, times vary.

Fall Year I

Ethics in Research IND 503 This course covers issues related to professional standards of conduct, including: ethical presentations of scientific information, fraud, responsible reviewing of grants, sexual harassment, ethical mentoring, Federal and University policies on scientific misconduct, statistics and ethics, ethical publishing, sharing reagents, laboratory record keeping, relations with industry, human experimentation, copyrights and authorship, and animal experimentation.
Full semester, Tuesday, 4:00 – 6:00.

Spring Year I

Workshop in Scientific Communication PM 478 This workshop series addresses the principle elements of scientific presentation and communication such as: abstract preparation, poster development, Power Point instruction, manuscript review and critique, oral presentations, working with the media/public relations.
Full semester, Tuesday, 4:00- 6:00.

Practical Skills in Grant Writing PM 438 This course provides practical skills related to procuring external support for research. The course content includes didactic lectures on grant-related topics, discussion sessions to examine grants that others have written, examination of tools and resources available to assist in grant writing, and the opportunity to write a grant for support of the student’s own research project and have it critiqued.
Full semester, Monday, 4:00- 6:00.

Fall Year II

Workshop on Academic Development This workshop is presented by the CTSA’s mentor development core and the purpose is to help protégés develop an academic career plan that will provide a clear route through their program and also help to track failures and successes.

Research Project Administration PM 494 This on-line course will provide practical skills regarding the post award management of the financial, human resources, facilities, and regulatory aspects of a federally funded research project. Course materials are on-line.

Didactic Courses

In addition to the workshops above, the postdoctoral trainee will complete 3 didactic courses, listed in items 1-3 below. These courses are required for the accredited Master of Science in Clinical Investigation MS-CI offered by the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, and trainees will be permitted to take the 7 additional courses necessary to obtain this degree. The Department offers a Graduate Level Certificate in Health and Aging GLCHA: courses 4-8 below, and trainees will be able to take these as electives to fulfill requirements for the MS-CI. PhD trainees who have taken many of the basic courses would have the time to complete the GLCHA.


Community and Preventive Medicine

Training Sites

The patients evaluated in clinical trials will be seen in the Strong Health System and at Monroe Community Hospital.

Strong Health – The University of Rochester Delivery System

Strong Health is an integrated health care delivery system comprised of three hospitals (Strong Memorial Hospital, Children’s Hospital at Strong, Highland Hospital), two long term care facilities (Highlands Living Center and Highlands at Brighton), two adult living communities (The Highlands at Pittsford and Laurelwood), University of Rochester Medical Faculty Group, Strong Home Care (comprised of Visiting Nurse Service, Monroe County’s largest home care organization, and Community Care of Rochester), three affiliated hospitals (Upstate Health Partners), and Strong Health Managed Care Organization. The system includes more than 900 physicians and more than 6,000 other health providers and support staff affiliated with these organizations.

Monroe Community Hospital (MCH)

MCH was one of the first major teaching nursing homes and developed one of the first comprehensive assessment programs for community based older adults. It is a nationally recognized 566-bed chronic care hospital with Dr. Paul Katz carrying on the tradition of Dr. T. F. Williams as its Medical Director. MCH is the hub of innovative programs related to aging for the university and community, including serving as a teaching site for medical residents and fellows, and providing headquarters for the Finger Lakes Geriatric Education Center – Upstate NY, Alzheimer’s Disease and Research Training Center and local chapters of the Alzheimer’s Association and Monroe County Office for the Aging. This proximity fosters collaboration. Several conference rooms (room for 12 to 150) are available for meetings. Full office equipment includes a Xerox photocopy machine, Macintosh G3s and Pentium PCs with laser printers and Internet and university mainframe access. Voice mail, high-speed fax, and conference calling are available.

Highland Hospital

Highland Hospital is a 268-bed community hospital, founded in 1889. Highland is a not-for-profit New York corporation that provides both inpatient and outpatient healthcare to residents of Monroe and surrounding counties. In calendar year 2002 the hospital treated 14,454 adult inpatients and 2423 newborns. In addition, Highland treated outpatients in a variety of clinical areas including radiation oncology (26,937 treatments), ambulatory surgery (6,025 patients), outpatient laboratory services (420,655 tests), medical imaging (22,625 tests), cardiology (9,238 visits) and medical oncology (10,542 visits). Highland's emergency department treated 28,141 patients in calendar 2002. Highland operates an extensive primary care satellite network, including the family medicine center and 19 other individual sites. In calendar 2002, these primary care sites experienced 252,756 patient visits. Highland also operates the area’s largest outpatient renal dialysis programs, seeing 52,484 outpatient treatments in calendar 2002. In 1997, Highland entered into an affiliation agreement with the University of Rochester. Highland and its subsidiaries and affiliated corporations became members of Strong Partners Health System, whose sole corporate member is the University of Rochester.

Strong Memorial Hospital

Strong Memorial Hospital (Strong), a 750-bed tertiary care facility, is the primary teaching hospital for the University of Rochester. It serves as the regional referral center for 1.4 million residents of upstate New York. Strong is the only upstate New York hospital to be selected as one of “100 Best Hospitals in the U.S.” and was the first healthcare organization in the State bestowed the Excelsior Exemplary Practice Award by the Governor of New York. There are 33,000 inpatient admissions and 400,000 outpatient visits per year. Strong has a regional trauma center (57,000 visits annually), a Clinical Cancer Center funded by the National Cancer Institute, a Clinical Research Center, and an Environmental Health Sciences Center (one of 15 in the U.S.).

Links of Interest

American Medical Directors Association (AMDA)

The American Geriatrics Society (AGS)

State Society on Aging of New York (SSANY)

VA Healthcare Network Upstate NY - VISN 2

Continuing Mobile Education

 

Get In Touch

Division of Geriatrics & Aging
Phone: 585.760.6352

Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program
Phone: 585.760.6353

Click Here to get more information