BCSDP: Research Training

The BCSDP is designed to prepare trainees for a career in patient-based eye and vision research.  The program will provide intensive, interdisciplinary training to enable participants to establish an individual research program, compete successfully for extramural funding, and carry out independent clinical research at the highest levels.

Highlights of the BCSDP Research Component

• Mentors: The BCSDP has recruited a group of world-renowned faculty from the UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco campuses who have considerable experience in clinical or basic science research. We have sought to include mentors who represent a broad spectrum of scientific areas related to clinical research and who will work closely with the awardees to achieve the goals of the individual's training plan. To complement this group of clinical investigators we have also included several faculty from the basic sciences who can provide additional mentoring to those candidates whose research programs will also benefit from basic science supervision. All of the BCSDP mentors have had substantial experience supervising graduate and post-doctoral students, and many have had direct responsibility for individuals in NIH clinical training programs. See Faculty Mentors.

• Interdisciplinary Training and Mentoring: The BCSDP offers unusually intensive, full-time, interdisciplinary training in patient-based eye and vision research. Our mentors come from research areas such as Vision Science, Optometry, Epidemiology, Infectious Disease, Neuroscience, Bioengineering, Health and Medical Science, and Molecular & Cell Biology. Trainees will therefore have unique opportunities to work in translational research, bringing new developments from the laboratory to bear upon clinical patient-based eye and vision research.

• Opportunities for Collaboration: The BCSDP offers trainees the opportunity to interact with faculty scientists and clinicians, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows who are dedicated to eye and vision research. Trainees will find a collegial and open forum to seek out consultation and share experiences and ideas with vision science researchers from both the UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco campuses.

• Grant Writing: One key to launching a successful careeer in patient-based eye and vision research is having the knowledge and skills to compete for clinical vision science grant support. To meet this challenge, the BCSDP will provide closely mentored training in grant writing so that trainees can successfully compete for extramural research support. The BCSDP faculty participating in the grant writing course and individual mentoring have very successful track records in competing for funding and will provide considerable guidance in this important area. Lead mentors will also provide specialized training in grant writing tailored to the individual trainee's career plan.

• Resources: The UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco campuses are rich in the resources needed to support a training program in clinical patient-based research. These include clinical facilities with a large and diverse patient population, campus-wide seminars and forums related to biology and clinical science, joint programs between the UCB and UCSF campuses, and the Berkeley Health Science Initiative, which encourages collaboration and fosters interdisciplinary approaches to research. In addition, the University of California, Berkeley Clinical Research Center (UCB-CRC) offers exceptional opportunities to train with renowned clinicians and scientists working with industry, foundations, and government to design and evaluate innovations in patient care.