Program Overview
The program is designed to train researchers in biomedical research in the area of rheumatic diseases. We have 3 postdoctoral training slots (for MD, MD/PhD, MD/MPH, and/or PhD researchers in bench laboratory or clinical-translational investigation).
We offer 2 slots for predoctoral students (for dual MD/PhD and/or single PhD students, all to be trained in basic-translational research in the UC San Diego/La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology (LJI) Biomedical sciences Program in Immunology).
The training program consists of a research experience typically of 24 months, and up to 36 months. Training is under close supervision of mentors collaboratively working on immunologic, molecular biologic, biochemical, and/or epidemiologic, health services, genetics, bioinformatics, and computational biologic problems relevant to the rheumatic diseases.
To emphasize team science, the 48 participating faculty will build multi-disciplinary training teams that will include in this cycle a clinical or basic research mentor, one computational mentor, together with one Rheumatology clinician and one junior mentor-in-training for all trainees. This will emphasize collaboration, help nurture translational thinking and team science in the trainees, help access patient cohorts and samples, and develop the mentoring skills of junior faculty. This exposure to “team science”, together with the mandatory coursework, will help the trainees learn how to interact with colleagues and share the contributions and credit for interesting research programs. We have also emphasized disparities and community engagement in the program. This program will focus on bi-directional communication between trainees and the community, will include a community member on the mentor team, will embed interactions with the community in planning studies and assessing impacts, as well as a Dissemination and Implementation plan.
Our emphasis is on recruiting and training new independent researchers to generate novel translational approaches and targeted therapies to rheumatic diseases, and to contribute to the pipeline of new leaders in Rheumatology research. Development of creative thinking, publication and presentation skills, along with inter-disciplinary team mentoring, and developing and improving faculty mentoring skills, are major features of the program.
All trainees are required to take courses in scientific ethics and scientific research methodology appropriate to their training and development. Other formal academic course work is encouraged for those carrying out basic research. MD trainees without an advanced degree in clinical research methodology will take coursework to obtain a Master’s Degree in Clinical Research (in the UC San Diego CTSA U54) or an MPH from the UC San Diego Department of Epidemiology.
To help foster longstanding career commitment to research in subjects relevant to rheumatic diseases, all trainees will participate in rheumatology research community-building, San Diego community outreach. Non-MD trainees will have targeted didactic and medical observership experiences as educational efforts in rheumatology.
Trainees are chosen on the basis of their prior academic performance, research career potential and experience, publications, interviews, and recommendations from supervisors. Preference is given to those with acknowledged research interests in rheumatologic and immunologic diseases, and demonstrated capacities in research.
The primary training unit is the UC San Diego Division of Rheumatology, Autoimmunity and Inflammation. Additional training sites include UC San Diego and VA hospitals and clinics, the UC San Diego CTSA, and other UC San Diego Medicine Divisions and Departments, and labs at LJI and Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute.
Program graduates will be primed to compete for academic positions as independent investigators in medical schools or research institutes, or as research scientists in industry.
Training Tracks
This T32 program has 3 Training Pathways, each with distinct tracks.
In order to promote community-building with optimal integration into the T32 of predoctoral trainees, all of the MSTP and single PhD graduate students will be doing bench research in Immunology (the focus and strength of both the MSTP and BMS programs), and be rooted in the UC San Diego/LJI BMS Immunology Program Student Training Track.
Postdoctoral Rheumatology Physician Training Pathway
Postdoctoral Rheumatology Physician Training Pathway (with Basic-Translational, and Clinical-Translational Research Tracks):
Training schedule: In both the basic or clinical research tracks in this pathway, T32 training for
Rheumatology MDs typically starts after completing a minimum of 1 year of clinically focused
intensive inpatient and outpatient Fellowship training (ie, >80% clinical time commitment). In
Year 1, the Fellows do 3 half-day adult Rheumatology clinics/week, and an aggregate of 1 other
subspecialized clinic experiences (including Metabolic Bone Disease clinic with Dr. Kado,
Pediatric Rheumatology Clinic at Rady Children's Hospital, and Ultrasound Clinic with Drs. Lee
and Ceponis). In the first quarter of Year 1, potential T32 trainees receive T32 orientation, and
prepare a formal application to the T32, due October 1. They start to work with the PD/PI, Dr.
Corr and EC members, and the Rheumatology Fellowship Director, to select potential mentoring
teams and projects, thereafter vetted by the entire EC and IAB. In Fellowship Year 1, potential
MD T32 trainees also attend the internal T32 research meetings that are discussed below, and
they have the option to do a 4 week research rotation (at ~50% effort/week) with a potential T32
mentor. Selected T32 MD applicants are formally approved by PD/PI and EC by May 1, must
submit an IDP with the mentoring team, for PD/PI and EC vetting, suggestions, and approval, by
June 1. On July 1, in Year 2 of their Rheumatology Fellowship, trainees start 24-36 months
(typical duration) of concentrated bench- OR clinical-translational research supported by Year 1
of T32 support. Training home base is in 1 lab or research unit, but with the ability of trainees to
work collaboratively with other units during their T32 training period. During the T32 support
period, there is protected research time (ie, <20% of time spent on clinical duties, as 2 half day
clinics/week). Research training in Year 1 of the T32 builds momentum for UCSD KL2, and
extramural NIH and Foundation Career Development grant applications in Year 2 and later in
these MD training tracks.
Didactic Coursework and Curricula (Other than those cited earlier) for Research Path
MDs:
1. MDs in the Basic-Translational Research Pathway, with and without PhD degrees, are
obligated to take specific courses offered in the BMS Immunology predoctoral training program,
judged by their mentoring team and the PD/PI, as highly relevant to their T32 lab research
training program, and starting in the first year of T32 training. For clinical research trainees,
interaction with basic scientists is furthered by their attendance at the Mechanisms of Disease,
and Translational Biology Journal Club.
2. As detailed in the RCR Section of the application, all postdoctoral trainees are required to
complete 2 UCSD Ethics Program courses: Scientific Ethics, and either Ethics and Survival
Skills in Academia, or a review course. The predoctoral students take the BIOM 219 Ethics
course in the BMS Immunology curriculum.
3. Other UCSD Immunology and Biology Courses available, offer distinct or more concise
material than BMS Immunology (described below for Predoctoral Pathway), and can be more
useful for trainees studying specific disease research problems. Options include the Advanced
Immunology Course (233-B, one semester), Advanced Molecular Biology (221-B) or
Advanced Cell Biology (223-A). Also, each year a course on modern techniques of biomedical
research (Medicine 260) is offered at UCSD for all postdocs, but targeted to MD research
trainees. The course is a series of 15 one-hour lectures in which various techniques in
molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology, immunology, and statistics are covered.
4. CTSA U54 Scientific Communication/Grant Writing Course. A compulsory grant writing
course is completed before the end of Year 2 of T32 support.
5. CTSA U54 elective courses in biostatistics, and informatics are offered. Moreover, the
program requires that MDs in the Clinical-Translational Research Pathway, and without MPH
degrees, take at least 3 didactic courses/year, over their 24-36 months of training in the T32.
These requirements are designed to help select the most committed MD candidates for moving
forward into T32 training, and to promote long-term competitive success and retention of MD
trainees in academic Rheumatology. We emphasize coursework leading to either a UCSD
Master’s of Advanced Studies (MAS) in Clinical Research, or an MPH from the UCSD
Epidemiology Department.
Postdoctoral PhD Postdoctoral Fellow Training in Research
Postdoctoral PhD Postdoctoral Fellow Training in Research (with separate tracks in BasicTranslational Research, and Clinical-Translational Research)
PhD researchers are mostly referred from our own faculty, where they are already working, with
work ethic and academic potential recognized under direct observation of the primary mentor.
We accept trainees in basic-translational research, and clinical-translational research
(principally Epidemiology, Statistical Genetics, and/or Bioinformatics).
Curricular Features Specifically for PhD postdoctoral trainees:
1. Didactic Coursework and Experiences with Rheumatic Disease Patients.
The PhD trainees participate in the seminars, symposia, journal clubs, and other activities of the
program. Moreover, all active T32-funded PhD trainees are required, in their Year 1 of T32
training, to attend/audit the UCSD SOMC2032 Rheumatology preclinical (second medical
school year) course block, which takes place in the first 2 weeks of each October. There are
~14 hours of lectures and podcasts and team-based learning exercises on the rheumatic
diseases, and also a 2 hour clinical session with rheumatic disease patients. Dr. Terkeltaub
directs this 16 hour course block, and multiple UCSD T32 and clinical RAI Division faculty teach
in this course, including the clinical skills session with patients. In Year 2, the PhD postdocs are
now required to have a rheumatic disease patient observership (one half day per week for 4
weeks) in the UCSD clinic of 1 of the 4 Adjunct Rheumatologist Clinical Research Faculty of this
T32.
2. UCSD CTSA U54 Didactics.
PhD basic-translational and clinical-translational research trainees are encouraged, by their
mentoring team, and PD/PI and EC members, to take didactic courses to complement their prior
graduate school training, in a manner most relevant to their T32 research training area and
career objectives. For example, PhD trainees learning to apply computational biology methods
take appropriate CTSA U54 MAS program courses (cited above) in biostatistics and
computational methods. PhD clinical-translational research postdocs are encouraged to take
specific course offerings (eg, Bioethics and Medical Practice).
Predoctoral Immunology-Rheumatology Training Pathway.
Predoctoral Immunology-Rheumatology Training Pathway (with MD/PhD MSTP, and single PhD Tracks)
Curricular Features Specifically for the Predoctoral Rheumatology Training Pathway
Aligned with BMS Immunology.
Starting for the 2018-23 cycle, we plan to accept MD/PhD MSTP, and single PhD applicants. All
such trainees will be in Basic-Translational Research, integrated with the UCSD/LJI BMS
Immunology Program Student Training Track. MSTP curriculum starts with the first 2 years of
preclinical medical school study taken with their classmates, and leading to the USMLE Part I
training exam, but also with 3 lab rotations in that span. All MSTP students also take the 2 week
Rheumatology preclinical block (SOMC 2032) in their second year of the MSTP curriculum. The
MSTP third to fifth or sixth years are dedicated to their graduate program requirements for PhD
work, with some students choosing clinical exposure by limited, periodic work in the UCSD Free
Clinic. In this time span, MSTP trainees accepted in our T32 will get 24 months of funded
support, with the primary faculty mentor asked to cover subsequent graduate school PhD time.
All MSTP trainees in this T32, in MSTP years 3-5 or 3-6, will participate in the shared activities,
including clinical Rheumatology observership. The highlight will be bench research aligned with
the UCSD/LJI BMS Immunology program, and supervised by T32 Theme 1 or Theme 2 primary
faculty mentors, tapping into the major new UCSD program strength. As such, all MSTP
trainees will complete the BMS Immunology Core Training Curriculum in their first-third
graduate school years, as follows:
Graduate Immunology:
• Core curriculum: "Molecules to Organisms" (BIOM 200A&B) provides a systematic
approach to current Biomedical Research, using analysis of selected topics to focus on
the process of research discovery and its critical evaluation. "Seminar in Biomedical
Research" (BIOM 201) critical discussion of the presented findings and scientific
approaches in a small group setting. BMS students statistical analysis of data (BIOM
285) and Ethics in Research (BIOM 219).
• Pathogens and Host Defense: Immunology
• Pathogensand Host Defense: Microbiology
Elective Courses (to fulfill 15 unit BMS elective requirement):
• Cellular Immunology;
• Graduate Animal Virology
• Graduate Developmental Biology
• Graduate Signal Transduction
• Bioinformatics 1-Biological Data Representation and Analysis
• Seminars in Molecular Pathology
• Journal Club in Molecular and Cellular Immunology.