Research Training Component

Development of a Research Plan

Fellows choose the Basic Scientist Pathway (bench research) or the Clinical Investigator Pathway (clinical research). Many fellows in the Clinical Investigator Pathway incorporate the K30 Clinical Research Training Program leading to a Masters degree.

Each fellow is assigned a first-year mentor who will provide assistance with selection of a research project and mentor. By April of their first year, fellows identify research mentors and submit brief proposals of their planned research activities. They also select a mentoring committee consisting of their research mentor and two additional faculty.

Fellows are encouraged to speak to their assigned faculty (first-year) mentors and to other faculty regarding research opportunities within the Divisions, the School of Medicine and the University at large. Fellows may choose to work with any mentor on the Stanford campus; they are not limited to Division faculty. Fellows who are accepted into a laboratory outside of the Divisions are supported by the Divisions for their research experience (2 years of support). Opportunities for fellows’ research range from translational research in drug resistance and tumor vaccines to laboratory studies in cell and molecular biology to clinical trials.

Types of Research Currently Underway

The titles of the research projects undertaken by our current fellows demonstrate the wide range of research opportunities available. Profiles of Hematology and Oncology faculty researchers are available on the Community Academic Profiles website.

Clinical Research Training Awards Available

Spectrum, the Stanford Center for Clinical and Translational Education and Research, offers two graduate-level award programs designed to advance the careers of the next generation of clinical and translational research leaders:

The KL2 Mentored Career Development Program provides senior fellows and junior faculty in health-related professions with financial support and advanced training in clinical and translational research. Awardees will receive access to career-development mentors, tuition support and a salary subsidy. Research performed within the KL2 program is designed to help participants obtain future National Institutes of Health research grants. The TL1 Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Research Training Program provides awardees with partial tuition and stipend support for a year of full-time instruction in clinical and translational research methods. Recipients will have access to career-development mentors, tuition support and a stipend.

Both programs are managed by Spectrum, the Stanford Center for Clinical and Translational Education and Research. They are funded by a Clinical and Translational Science Award from NIH's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.

For more information, email Anandi Krishnan, PhD, at anandi.krishnan@stanford.edu or visit http://spectrum.stanford.edu/education-mentoring. Applications are due by August 9.

Annual Research Retreat

In the Fall of each academic year, the Hematology and Oncology fellows and faculty retreat from the Stanford campus for three days to learn about and to discuss each others’ research. For over a decade, the retreat has been held at Asilomar, a facility designed for large and small meetings and retreats. The invigorating setting, by the Pacific Ocean just south of Pacific Grove in the Carmel-Monterey area, is a stimulating site for communication and planning.

Following a keynote talk by an invited visiting professor, Hematology and Oncology faculty report on their continuing research. Senior fellows give several short, informal presentations, grouped by theme, of their research conducted both within the Divisions and at other selected Stanford research laboratories. There are roundtables on selected topics, poster sessions, a raffle, and social events. The retreat provides an excellent introduction to the opportunities available to newer fellows for clinical and laboratory investigation, and all first- and second-year fellows are expected to attend.

Research of the Divisions of Hematology and Oncology

For an overview of the bench research in the Division of Hematology, click here; for the Division of Oncology, click here. Fellows participate in research both within the Divisions and in many other Stanford laboratories.