K12 Award Program
Program Objective
The overall objective of the NEI Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Program Award at UC San Diego is to develop outstanding clinician scientists to successfully compete at the national level for NIH grants and emerge as leaders within academic Ophthalmology. Through this institutional career development award, we will mentor clinician scientists toward independent academic appointments in ophthalmology.
Since 1991, the University of California San Diego Shiley Eye Center has excelled in mentoring the career development of academic ophthalmologists in all fields, particularly in the field of glaucoma. Many of these individuals now lead successful research and clinical careers around the world; they include Department Chairs, Division Chiefs and impactful academicians.
Program Structure & Curriculum
We will amplify these strengths through a structured program of mentoring, research and education to identify and mentor the next generation of academic clinician scientists, expand our emphasis to career development across all subspecialty areas of ophthalmology. With an emphasis on recruiting strong applications from women and minority applicants, Scholars will be selected each year after their completion of a post-residency clinical fellowship in ophthalmology.
The Scholar will undertake these activities in the area of basic and/or clinical sciences appropriate to their scientific focus, and by partnering with active clinician scientist mentors to facilitate career development. Each Scholar will be trained in clinically relevant research, statistics, scientific writing, grant preparation, ethics, leadership and the responsible conduct of research.
Additional aspects of the curriculum of each Scholar will be individualized by the Program Director (PI), Research Director, Education Director, Executive Committee, Mentoring Group, and lead mentor, based upon the Scholar's selected primary research track and his/her skills, background and career goals. Each Scholar will create an original research program and through this Award develop an independent academic career.
We propose six primary research tracks:
- Visual Neuroscience
- Genomics and Proteomics
- Bioengineering
- Stem cell biology
- Computational Ophthalmology (and Telemedicine)
- Clinical (human subjects) Research
Public Health Relevance
Through this Ophthaolmology and Visual Science K12 Career Development Program, we will combine excellence in research mentoring, didactic education, and formal career development guidance to bring new clinician scientists to careers in academic ophthalmology and vision research.
NIH Project SiteInformation about diversity and inclusion is available through multiple venues. First, there are several websites available that provide information about diversity initiatives across the entire campus (diversity.ucsd.edu) and the (School of Medicine). Many departments have their own websites as well. Virtually all departments at UCSD have identified an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) ambassador, typically a faculty member who spearheads diversity-related initiatives in their areas/specialties and also collaborates with various entities across the medical school.
There are several active affinity organizations for UCSD medical students. These include:
The Association of Native American Medical Students (ANAMS)
The Asian Pacific American Medical Students Association (APAMSA)LGBTQ
Pharmacy and Medical Students (LGBTQ-PhaM)
The Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA)
Medical Students for Justice (MS4J)
The Student National Medical Association (SNMA)
UCSD also offers a curricular pathway called Program in Medical Education – Health Equity (PRIME - HEq), which part of a system-wide effort at the University of California to train physicians better able to meet the needs of the diverse Californian population who are traditionally underserved by the medical system. PRIME-HEq faculty work with students to identify populations or communities at risk for health disparities. Students will then receive exposure, training, and the opportunity to work with the identified group to further their passion in the area and provide knowledge and skills to better equip the students to improve health equity for the group.
- UC Campus Diversity Efforts
- UCSD Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
- Center for Faculty Diversity and Inclusion
- UCSD School of Medicine Office of Diversity and Community Partnerships
- UCSD Student National Medical Association
- UCSD Black Resource Center
- UCSD Latino Medical Student Association
- UCSD Women’s Center
- UCSD Hispanic Center of Excellence
- UCSD LGBT Resource Center