UCSD Cancer Center Training Program in Drug Development

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
This renewal application seeks funding to continue the highly successful Cancer Therapeutics Training (CT2)
Program at the Moores Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego. About 40% of
Americans will develop cancer in their lifetime. More than 600,000 fall to cancer each year. The mission of the
CT2 program is to train PhD and MD-physician-scientists who will become the next generation of leaders in the
field of cancer drug and therapeutics in each of the major steps required for successful translation of laboratory-
based discoveries into safe and effective therapeutic agents. The CT2 training is designed to position trainees
to play key leadership roles in the field of oncology therapeutics. The 31 faculty of the CT2 Program are all
Members of the Cancer Center and are appointed in 11 departments in the School of Medicine, the Skaggs
School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences or the general campus. Each faculty preceptor is an
accomplished investigator and educator with a history of training superb postdoctoral fellows. Each has
substantial peer-reviewed cancer or cancer-related research funding. All of the participating faculty are
conducting translational research and have been selected because of their interest in new cancer therapeutics.
This program is extensively integrated with other activities of the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center and the
extensive biotech/pharma industry in San Diego. The goal is to recruit and retain 8 MD and PhD scientists in
this two-year program that will position them for careers in the development of new cancer drugs or the
diagnostics needed to guide the use of these drugs in the era of personalized medicine. The training program
components include: the completion of formal didactic teaching sessions that cover tools essential to the drug
development process; the conduct of one or more steps in therapeutic development research project under the
direction of a faculty preceptor; and required participation in individual development plans, including yearly
attendance at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research or an equivalent national
meeting. Trainees are also expected to participate in Cancer Center and Departmental seminars, research
rounds, and journal clubs to expand the breadth of their understanding of cancer research and prepare formal
project plans and practice or real grant applications for review by the Executive Committee. Methods are in place
to ensure that all trainees are properly instructed in the principles of responsible conduct of research and
scientific integrity. Trainees are recruited nationwide and special efforts are made recruit and retain exceptional
candidates from groups historically underrepresented in biomedical sciences.

Grant Number: 5T32CA121938-19
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Michael Bouvet