Background

The K12 Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Training Program (MCRTP) will produce future leaders for the nation’s clinical research workforce. Our Clinical Research (CR) Scholars will complete the training program with the knowledge and skills to conduct cutting-edge translational clinical research and to lead teams of investigators who recognize the mutuality of different research paradigms – ranging from molecular medicine to public health sciences.

Soon after becoming the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in May 2002, Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. convened a series of meetings to chart a “roadmap” for clinical research in the 21st century. Re-engineering the Clinical Research Enterprise is undoubtedly the most challenging, but critically important area identified through the NIH roadmap process. At the core of his vision is the need to develop new partnerships of research with organized patient communities, community-based health care providers, and academic researchers to quickly develop and test new interventions. Re-engineering the Clinical Research Enterprise is intended to promote better integration of existing clinical research networks, encourage the development of technologies to improve the assessment of clinical outcomes, and to enhance training for clinical researchers.

The K12 Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Training Program, one of the “Roadmap” initiatives, was designed to address the need to enhance the training of individuals interested in clinical research. In 2007, the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) was awarded.  The CTSA creates a definable academic home for the discipline of clinical and translational science at institutions across the country. The K12 MCRTP became linked to the CTSA and is now referred to as the KL2 MCRTP component of the Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative (CTSC).  The CTSC is one of 24 academic health centers funded under this consortium nationwide.

Along with the Cleveland Clinic and CWRU, collaborating partner institutions include MetroHealth Medical Center and University Hospitals of Cleveland. Several schools and colleges within Case Western Reserve University are involved in the program including the School of Medicine, the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, the Weatherhead School of Management, the School of Dental Medicine, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.

The MCRTP is committed to producing excellent independent clinical investigators capable of leading multidisciplinary team-based research. MCRTP Scholars come from diverse professional disciplines, and will be trained to conduct team-based, multidisciplinary, patient-oriented clinical research. We expect that these clinical investigators will become leaders in a re-engineered clinical research workforce.