UCSF T32 MSK Training Program

The mission of the UCSF Musculoskeletal (MSK) Training Program is to prepare a diverse community of Ph.D. scientists and M.D. or M.D./Ph.D. residents and fellows for a lifetime of scholarly pursuits that lead to in-depth understanding and improved care of patients with MSK diseases.

UCSF Musculoskeletal Training Program T32 Fellowship – Request for Applications

Key Dates
Application Deadline: May 1, 2024 by 5:00 pm PST
Awardees notified around late May 2024
Start Date must be before July 1, 2024

Any questions should be sent to [email protected]

The mission of the UCSF Musculoskeletal (MSK) Training Program is to prepare a diverse community of Ph.D. scientists and M.D. or M.D./Ph.D. residents and fellows for a lifetime of  scholarly pursuits that lead to in-depth understanding and improved care of patients with MSK diseases. The MSK T32 program is seeking applications for the inaugural class of fellows eager to push the boundaries of MSK science, and in doing so, advance the field in fundamental ways. One-year training slots are available on a competitive basis to trainees proposing research in any area of musculoskeletal science, for projects across all UCSF campuses.

Application Deadline:
  • Applications may be submitted by email to Aaron Fields no later than 5:00 p.m. PST, on the Due Date listed above. Early submission is encouraged. We have three slots that are available immediately and need to be activated by July 1, 2024.
  • Please see below for the application package requirements
Trainee eligibility requirements:
  • The trainee must fit the NIH T32 eligibility criteria for postdoctoral fellowships: “U.S. citizens or permanent residents enrolled in a research or clinical postdoctoral program.”
  • The trainee cannot already have received more than 2 years of prior NIH postdoctoral Fellowship-level training support (T32, F32, etc.) at the time that this award starts. Fellows are allowed a maximum of 3 years of combined NIH postdoctoral Fellowship-level training.
  • Trainees must have received a Ph.D. or M.D. or equivalent.
  • Trainee selection will be based on previous scholarly record, proposed research, potential translational value, mentor commitment, and the likelihood that the proposed training will result in a highly impactful contribution to MSK research.
  • Trainees who are appointed to the T32 are expected to participate in and present at UCSF CCMBM/Orthopaedic Surgery enrichment activities, such as grand rounds, research retreats and journal clubs, as well as provide materials needed to fulfill grant reporting requirements.
Mentor requirements:
  • The mentor should be a UCSF faculty member with an established training record. Co- mentorship is allowed. The mentor does not need to be in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.
  • The mentor is expected to provide a strong training environment and support the trainee’s participation in MSK T32-related research and mentoring activities.
  • The mentor should be able to demonstrate adequate funding to support the trainee and proposed research. See Award requirements for additional details.
Award requirements:
  • The project must be broadly related to MSK basic or clinical science.
  • This award is for a 1 year duration and must be started before July 1, 2024. Applications for 2 years of T32 fellowship support will be considered, and re-appointment to the T32 for a second year will be considered on a competitive basis, including evaluating research publications, progress and potential, success in achieving IDP goals and milestones, and training commitment.
  • All NRSA Training grants require a payback agreement. This impacts individuals differently, but typically, payback is required only for the first year of NIH NRSA fellowship support and is usually satisfied by one year of continued research-related activity. Please discuss with us if you have any questions.
  • The T32 grant provides a stipend based on the NIH experience scale, and support for trainee benefits, including up childcare costs.
  • The mentor or mentor’s department is required to provide any additional support for any “funding gap,” up to the UCSF required salary and benefit levels and guided by current contracts and policies.
  • Up to $1000 is available for travel to an academic research conference
Application procedure:

Please submit the following items, in order, in 1 PDF file by email to Aaron Fields at [email protected] by the submission deadline

  • Coverpage, with the following information:
    • Name of the Applicant
    • Email address and phone number
    • Project Title
    • Years of postdoctoral experience
    • Dates of any prior NIH NRSA-supported postdoctoral training
    • Citizenship status
    • Name of the mentor
    • Mentor’s email address and phone number
  • 1 page research proposal, describing your research plan but not including references. Please include a brief statement of how your proposal is relevant to musculoskeletal science. Up to 1 additional page may be included for references.
  • 1 page training proposal, describing your training goals and objectives, and planned activities under your fellowship to achieve those goals.
  • NIH Fellowship Biosketch of the applicant. In the personal statement section (max ½ page), please briefly describe your long-term goals, your mentoring plan, and how this grant will be beneficial to your career development (see the NIH Biosketch Format page for instructions and templates; make sure to use the Fellowship biosketch format!)
  • NIH Biosketch(es) of the mentor(s).
  • Letter from the mentor (max 1 page), describing the mentor’s contributions/support for the study, a brief mentorship plan, that the mentor will provide funding for research expenses and any salary/benefits gap, and that the mentor supports the trainee’s participation in the UCSF CCMBM/Department of Orthopaedic Surgery activities.
Application timeline:

Application Deadline: May 1, 2024 by 5:00 pm PST
Awardees notified around late May 2024
Start Date must be before July 1, 2024

Any questions should be sent to [email protected]

 

Stipends & Benefits

Childcare Benefits for Postdoctoral Scholars

As of Oct. 1, 2023, postdoctoral scholars are eligible to be reimbursed for up to $2,500 per year for qualifying childcare expenses. Eligible dependents include those who are age 12 or under as of the date the expense is incurred and who are living in the postdoctoral scholar's home (includes Foster Care/Adoption and shared custody arrangements).
 
Learn more about reimbursement requirements and deadlines on the UCSF HR website here.

 

T32 Scholar Conference Travel Stipend

As part of the T32 program, we have set aside up to $1,000 per scholar to cover travel-related expenses to a conference related to their research. Travel must take place before April 1, 2024. Eligible expenses include hotel, airfare, and incidentals.

Please contact Aaron Fields before booking any conference travel.

 

Training-related Expense Reimbursement Stipend

As part of the T32 program, we have set aside as needed funds to cover training-related expenses. Eligible expenses include research supplies, equipment, software, and core services.

Please contact Aaron Fields to determine if your expense is reimbursable under this stipend.

 

T32 Scholar Continuing Education & Tuition Stipend

For trainees that would like additional coursework, we have set aside a $4,694 per person tuition stipend which can be applied towards specific courses across multiple departments at UCSF.
 
Learn more about examples of eligible courses for the Winter 2024 quarter below. If you are interested in using your stipend next quarter, please contact Aaron Fields.
 
Design and execution are the first steps of a research project; publishing and disseminating the results are its culmination. The class will introduce all aspects of health research-related writing and communication in the modern age. We will focus on traditional forms of dissemination (i.e., abstracts, posters, presentations and publications) as well as emerging formats.
 
Rigorous systematic reviews are the gold standard for assessing the effectiveness of clinical and public health interventions. Key systematic review principles and methods can also be applied to other important areas of public health and health care (e.g., prevalence of diseases, qualitative evidence, diagnostic test accuracy). The goal of this course is to provide participants with a grounded theoretical understanding of all major aspects of conducting a high-quality systematic review, focused on the effectiveness of an intervention and exposure to risk factors. Students will develop a brief systematic review protocols (detailed work-plans for systematic reviews). Students will also understand principles of the meta-analysis methods and will have an opportunity to practice on a dataset.
 
Electronic Health Record (EHR) data can be used for a variety of clinical, epidemiologic and translational research, and these data are becoming more accessible. This course introduces students to concepts, methods, and pitfalls related to the extraction, manipulation and analysis of data from EHRs. The course covers common EHR data structures and vocabularies, using that knowledge to inform research study design, and creation of patient cohorts and analytic extracts. We will cover both ambulatory and inpatient use cases. Students have the opportunity to design their own research projects during the course.
This course provides a foundation for the design of studies that are alternatives to individual participant-level randomization for the evaluation of interventions in real-world settings. An overview of the history of experimental and observational design will set the stage to understand these design variants. For each randomized (e.g., cluster-randomized and stepped-wedge randomized trials) and quasi-experimental design (e.g., pre-post and interrupted time series) presented, students will assess key features, common pitfalls, and possible strategies to improve internal and external validity. Scholars will be also introduced to implications of design decisions for data analysis. Focus will be placed on determining which design is best suited to a range of 'real world' implementation settings.
 
A common goal of observational clinical or epidemiologic research is to estimate the causal effect of particular exposures or interventions on some health outcome. While causation-oriented research has long been practiced, recent methodologic work has more sharply placed into view what it means and what is needed to estimate causal effects. In particular, there are newer alternatives that may be better than conventional stratification or regression approaches to reduce confounding in observational research. This course will describe more advanced methods that may yield better estmates causal effects than standard approaches.
 
This course teaches the mathematical foundations of machine learning (ML). Each week, the course surveys a different algorithm to examine its underlying machinery, covering topics such as linear algebra, calculus, and optimization. ML algorithms range from linear models to gradient boosting and deep learning. The course also discusses newer concepts such as model fairness and ML for causal inference. Upon course completion, students should be able to learn new ML algorithms independently.

 

 

Workshops & Classes

Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Courses

RCR coursework is an NIH requirement. UCSF offers two separate training tracks, one for basic science trainees and another for clinical and translational science trainees to fulfill this requirement.
 
Trainees in both tracks are strongly encouraged to enroll in BIO 273 - Introduction to Biostatistics and will be required to attend a CCMBM workshop.
 

BASIC SCIENCE TRAINEES:

Next Offered: Winter/Spring 2025
This course, which will be delivered over two quarters to first year PhD students in the basic sciences, will cover topics related to the responsible conduct of research and rigor and reproducibility. 50% in-person attendance at scheduled lectures and discussions sessions will be expected. Students will review and participate in case study discussions and submit a final written report.

CLINICAL/TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE TRAINEES:

Next Offered: Summer 2024
This online course guides residents and students through the essential components for writing a clinical research protocol, developed around their own clinical research question. Students attend lectures and small group seminars as well as being given the opportunity for an optional peer review session in the last week of the course. The course will cover research questions, hypotheses, specific aims, study types, sample size estimation, power calculations, and data analysis.
Next Offered: Summer 2024
Instruction in identifying and resolving common ethical dilemmas that arise in clinical research, how research is regulated, and misconduct in research.

 

K-Grant Writing Workshop
Application Deadline: June 2, 2024

The Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Training Program offers a workshop three times per year for approximately 4-8 UCSF research scholars (fellows or early junior faculty), who are planning to apply for a K-series grant in patient-oriented research. This is a structured set of faculty-facilitated works-in-progress sessions, focused on writing a mentored K-grant, for submission during the upcoming K-cycle due date. Because of the emphasis on training and career development, the K grant requires specific elements that differ from traditional investigator-initiated grants. These additional elements are the emphasis of this workshop.