Pre-Doctoral Training Program

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.
• 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.
• Interact with Yale physician-scientists, PhD investigators, pre and postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students.
• Participate in the YCCI research in progress and ROCATS team science orientation activities.
• Attend additional institutional lectures, departmental conferences, and lab meetings.
• Present their research to program peers and Yale faculty during the final week of the program.

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.

The YCCI Program will be open to all applicants training across the full span of clinical and translational research focused on human health. All applications will be accepted and reviewed based on scientific merit. All applications will be accepted and reviewed based on scientific merit. As we strongly support a diverse scientific workforce and research focus, we encourage applications from investigators who:

• Pursue research in health equity or
• Identify as being from a group underrepresented in health-related research
• 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.

Special Emphasis: YCCI Multidisciplinary Pre-Doctoral Program to Promote Health Equity Research

The YCCI strongly advocates for research that will guide healthcare systems in ways to improve the health outcomes of all individuals. Health equity research is a portfolio of activities across the translational research spectrum that moves beyond documenting existing group disparities in health outcomes and healthcare delivery to generating solutions through the application of novel approaches. Rather than being confined to the study of static population subgroups, health equity research interrogates the dynamic, cumulative, and interrelated structures of power, environmental conditions, and economic systems that produce unequal population health. Health equity research also identifies and highlights protective factors that are traditionally undervalued and understudied. Health equity research is grounded in rigorous interdisciplinary research methodologies and centers on the valued contributions and engagement of diverse stakeholders across all phases of research activity. We recognize our institutional responsibility to prioritize research that is responsive to communities and to create dynamic structures that support a unified mission to advance health equity and justice. Applicants whose focus is on developing expertise in health equity research are encouraged to apply for this postdoctoral program, and if awarded, will be supported for one year.

Special Emphasis: YCCI Multidisciplinary Pre-Doctoral Program to Promote Diversity in Translational Research

YCCI announces this request for applications for the YCCI Pre-Doctoral Program to Promote Diversity in Translational Research, which will provide support to underrepresented pre-doctoral trainees. Translational research includes clinically-based, laboratory-based, population-based, or community-based research that is focused on understanding or treating human diseases. The goal of the program is to attract outstanding trainees who are members of populations that are under-represented in the biomedical research workforce and who want to pursue careers in any type of translational research. The program provides training in the use of state-of-the-art research tools; enhances the abilities of the trainees to work collaboratively in complex multidisciplinary research teams; and provides outstanding mentoring (including concordant mentoring) by experienced and diverse faculty that supports the trainee’s long-term professional development, including connecting diverse individuals to supportive networks; and providing resources for retention and eliminating barriers for career transition. Awards will be for one year.

Please note: All applicants who apply under this special emphasis initiative to Promote Diversity in Translational Research must be a member of a population identified by NIH as underrepresented in the U.S. biomedical, clinical, behavioral, and social sciences research enterprise (see NIH NOT-OD-20-031).

• Due date for applications in all areas: Friday, March 10, 2023, at 5:00 PM
• Earliest anticipated start date: Thursday, June 1, 2023

• 2023 Request for Applications (PDF)
• 2023 Application (Word doc)
• 2023 Online Application Form