National Institute of General Medical Sciences 2T32GM086330-16

UNC-Duke Collaborative Clinical Pharmacology Postdoctoral Training Program

Renewal of UNC-Duke collaborative postdoctoral training program in clinical pharmacology focusing on translational drug disposition, clinical trial design, precision therapeutics, data science, and regulatory science with a total award amount of $772,643 for FY 2026.

Description

This competing renewal application (Years 16-20) will further advance a highly successful University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) - Duke University collaborative T32 postdoctoral training program in clinical pharmacology that builds on our exceptional research environment with world-class programs in all aspects of clinical pharmacology. The demand for clinical pharmacologists continues to increase in this era of precision health, and we have an outstanding track record of training clinician-scientists to meet the growing biomedical research workforce needs. Our 2-year training program (4 new trainees/year) offers strong leadership, internationally recognized clinical and basic science mentors from multiple disciplines who are actively involved in clinical pharmacology, a wide-array of cutting-edge technologies and resources, and a uniquely collaborative environment with strong institutional support. From our excellent national applicant pool we select primarily MDs in medical specialty training programs seeking a career path in clinical pharmacology, and also PharmDs pursuing advanced clinical pharmacology research training. Trainees, guided by individualized development plans and mentoring teams, complete clinical pharmacology coursework and engage in program-specific activities to gain expertise in all aspects of clinical pharmacology research in preparation for academic, regulatory, or pharmaceutical industry careers as leaders and mentors to future generations of clinical pharmacologists. Program Faculty are chosen based on their successful training record and research productivity in at least one of four focus areas that form the core of this training program: Translational Drug Disposition, Action & Quantitative Pharmacology; Drug-Induced Organ Toxicity; Innovative Clinical Trial Design; and Precision Therapeutics. Program enhancements to better prepare our trainees to address future challenges in clinical pharmacology include more extensive training in data science (e.g., artificial intelligence, machine learning) and methods to ensure the highest level of scientific rigor and reproducibility in research; greater focus on novel therapeutic approaches (e.g., biologics, antibody drug conjugates, proteins/peptides, cell/gene therapies); and enhanced trainee career/professional development opportunities. The newly funded Triangle Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (CERSI) will provide training in regulatory science and opportunities for trainees to interact directly with FDA scientists. An important feature of this renewal application is the increased breadth of clinical pharmacology training in real-world populations and a pilot program in the application of virtual clinical trials. The unparalleled investment in clinical pharmacology research and infrastructure for training clinical/translational scientists at UNC and Duke, the intellectually rich biomedical science community in Research Triangle Park, and our longstanding commitment to excellence in preparing clinical pharmacologists to advance the safe, effective, and individualized use of medicines combine to provide an exceptional clinical pharmacology training program.

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