HDFCCC K12 Physician Scientist Program in Clinical Oncology

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Physician Scientist Program in Clinical Oncology

Applications now closed. They will open again in Fall 2025.

The goal of the HDFCCC K12 Physician Scholar Program in Clinical Oncology is to foster the development of the next generation of clinical scientists to be effective partners with discovery scientists and conduct high-impact and innovative patient-centered cancer research. The program is housed in the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (HDFCCC) and leverages the exceptional research, clinical, and training environment of one of the world’s leading health sciences institutes. The program integrates the HDFCCC's strengths in basic cancer research, experimental therapeutics, clinical research methodology, and expertise in cancer-related translational research, imaging, patient-reported outcomes, biomarkers, healthcare disparities, community engagement, and biostatistics. 

For more information email Jennifer Seuferer.

 

Upcoming K12 Program Seminars 

From Concept to Completion, Strategies for Successful Clinical Trials

This series of seminars provides high-yield, practical information about designing, funding, and conducting patient-facing oncology trials. Each year 7 seminars are offered. If you attend at least 6 within a 2-year time frame, you can receive the Concept to Completion Certificate of Completion. Open to senior fellows and early career faculty. Contact Jennifer Seuferer for more information. Register here. 

Aug

1. Accruing Participants in Clinical Research 

2. Protocol Structure & review 

Nov

3. Informed Consent and Clinical Trial Ethics 

4. Types of Trials and Sponsors and the General Activation Process 

Feb

5. Clinical outcomes research, PROs & database topics - Feb. 13

6. Clinical trial design and data analysis - Feb. 20

May

7. Building your Research Portfolio & Keeping it in the Black - May 8

8. Nuts and Bolts of Being a PI on a Clinical Trial - May 22

 

Career Development and Leadership Seminar Series

This seminar series includes career development and leadership topics to help physician scientists advance their careers. It's a 2-year curriculum with topics repeating every other year. All the seminars are listed below, however, for any given year, only half of them will take place (the other half will occur the following year).  They are scheduled in blocks (July - December and January - June).  Register here.

July

1. Demystifying the Climb: Promotions at UCSF

October

2. Strategic Service Roles and Building Networks

3. Organizational Structure of an NCI Designated Cancer Center 

January

4.  Engaging Community in your Work- How to Do it and Why it Matters - Jan. 23, 2025, 2-4pm

5. Conflict Management in Multi-Disciplinary Teams

April

6. Building. Leading, and Sustaining an Effective Team - April 17, 2-4pm

7. Maximizing the impact of your work – preprints, twitter, social media

June 8. Leveraging philanthropy to build and sustain your research program

 

Clinically Driven Discovery Science in Cancer - From Bench to Bedside Workshop [REGISTRATION NOW OPEN]

The next Bench to Bedside workshop is July 21-25, 2025.

Register

Lead by Michelle Arkin, PhD, Michael Cheng, MD, and Trever Bivona, MD/PhD

This workshop will provide training and a rigorous foundation for hypothesis-driven patient-focused research, covering clinical and preclinical iteration. Attendees will participate in interactive didactic and individualized discussions that culminate in a translational and/or clinical research protocol synopsis focused on testing a patient-centered hypothesis of their interest(s).

For most topics, participants will first view online lectures, followed by in-person, small group discussion. Participants must be able to participate in the in-person group discussions to join the course. Open to postdocs, graduate students, senior clinical fellows and early career faculty. 

Learning Objectives:

  • Summarize the stages of preclinical foundations
  • Describe combination studies and when to use them
  • Discuss pharmacodynamic studies and radionuclide therapies
  • Examine drug development from the perspective of a clinical pharmacist
  • Summarize clinical trial design

Schedule:
* Times are still being confirmed but sessions will occur between 1-5pm each day

Monday 7/21:

  • Preclinical Foundations & Case Studies Discussion Group – Michelle Arkin, PhD

Tuesday 7/22:

  • Pre-Clinical Combination Therapies Discussion Group – Cathy Smith, MD
  • Synopsis of Clinical Trial Design – Andrew Ko, MD, FASCO

Wednesday 7/23:

  • Nuclear Medicine for Cancer Treatment Discussion Group - Michael Evans, PhD
  • Pharmacodynamic Studies Discussion Group – Adil Daud, MD

Thursday 7/24:

  • Preclinical to Clinical PK & PD – Liang.Zhao, PhD
  • Clinical Combination Studies – Michael Cheng, MD
  • Class project work

Friday 7/25:

  • Project presentations