Multidisciplinary Pre-Doctoral Training Program

The YCCI Program will be open to ALL pre-doctoral applicants training across the full span of clinical and translational research. All applications will be accepted and reviewed based on scientific merit.

The Multidisciplinary Pre-Doctoral Training Program in Translational Research aims to identify and support a representative and diverse group of outstanding trainees who specifically want to pursue careers in clinical and translational research; to train them in the use of state-of-the-art research tools; to enhance their abilities to work collaboratively in complex multidisciplinary research teams; to provide outstanding mentoring (including concordant mentoring) by experienced and diverse faculty that support the trainee’s long-term professional development. Pre-doctoral students from the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, Engineering and Applied Science, or other appropriate departments in the graduate school in training across the full span of clinical and translational research focused on human health are encouraged to apply. The program will tap into Yale’s established educational leadership team, who has a diverse background in clinical and translational research, as well as expertise in the evaluation and dynamic reshaping of medical education programs. The leadership will work directly with both the trainees and their mentors to promote multidisciplinary team-based research that addresses complex medical and/or societal aspects of health and healthcare delivery in the US and around the world.

Funded by the Yale CTSA, this program focuses on providing students the opportunity to develop and participate in multidisciplinary team research with the mentorship of Yale faculty in two or more disciplines. Students in the program will:

• Identify a research question related to patient or public health with aims that should be achievable in one year.
• Establish a mentoring team comprised of both primary and secondary mentors that come from distinct disciplines that work as a team to address the research question. An example would be a primary mentor from Medicine or Nursing and a secondary Mentor from Biomedical Engineering or Public Health.
• Gain clinical or laboratory research experience under the mentorship of the mentoring team.
• Meet with one of the Co-Directors of Education at least once annually.
• Interact with Yale physician-scientists, PhD investigators, pre and postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students.
• Participate in the YCCI Research-in-Progress (twice per month), Research Opportunities for Clinical & Translational Studies (ROCATS) summer series (weekly), YCCI Special Programs (monthly), and ROCATS team science activities.
• Attend annual YCCI-supported meetings, including All Scholars Day, Yale-Rockefeller Day, and the National Association for Clinical and Translational Science meeting.

Research projects reflect a broad-based perspective on the entire research cycle from discovery to development to delivery of care. Project areas include laboratory bench research, clinical research, biostatistics, and epidemiology, among many others. Awards will be for one year, with the option to apply for a second year of support.

• Promotion of Diversity in Translational Research
  We encourage applications from individuals who are members of underrepresented populations in the biomedical research workforce (see NIH NOT-OD-20-031).
• Promotion of Health Equity Research
  We encourage applications from individuals who are conducting research related to promoting health equity.
• Promotion of Community-Engaged Research and Implementation Science
  We encourage applications from individuals who are conducting community-engaged research or implementation science research (see https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/community-engagement/php/chapter-1/?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/communityengagement/pce_intro.html and https://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/is/about).
• Promotion of New Technologies (e.g., Artificial Intelligence) in Clinical Research
  We encourage applications from individuals who are conducting research on the incorporation of new technologies to improve the health of patients.

• Applicant webinar (see below for details): Tuesday, January 21, 2025, at 12:00 PM
• Due date for applications in all areas: Friday, March 7, 2025, at 5:00 PM
• Earliest anticipated start date: Sunday, June 1, 2025

• This program is funded by a National Research Service Award (NRSA) from the National Institutes of Health. Accordingly, all NRSA rules and policies apply, including the items below.
• Applicants must be US citizens, noncitizen nationals, or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time of application.
• NRSA support at the predoctoral level via institutional training grants or individual fellowship awards is limited to 5 years. Applicants may have no more than 4 years of NRSA support prior to beginning the program.
• Applicants must be Yale students actively enrolled in and in good standing in the MD program, the MD-PhD program, or a PhD program.
• Applicants who are working toward their PhD degree must have passed their qualifying examinations by the anticipated start date and be projected to remain in the PhD program for the duration of the year award.
• Program awardees who have already received 2 years of support are not eligible to apply.

Please see the Request for Applications below for the full list of requirements and additional terms of the award.

Prospective applicants are encouraged to attend to learn more about the awards, eligibility, application process, and program requirements. The webinar will be recorded and posted here for those who cannot attend.

Tuesday, January 21, 12:00 – 1:00 PM via Zoom – Register today