Research Program
Following clinical fellowship, trainees spend the remainder of the second year and the entire third year of fellowship in either a basic science or clinical research program. A variety of research opportunities are available at BIDMC, summarized in the remainder of this brochure by faculty member.
In addition to our Hematology Training Grant held for over 25 years (headed by Dr. Dan Tenen), we are the recipient of an Oncology Training Grant (headed by Dr. Ben Neel) and a Vascular Biology Training Grant (headed by Dr. Bruce Furie). These grants help support research fellows who are pursuing laboratory-based investigations while seeking independent funding. Research fellows interested in translational research may also apply for support through a Clinical Investigator Training Program (headed by Dr. Alan Moses of the Division of Endocrinology and the Joslin Diabetes Center ). Other funding opportunities will be available as well, and Dr. John Frangioni, a graduate of our fellowship program and member of our faculty, will assist fellows in identifying funding opportunities and in writing grant proposals.
Fellows choosing to enter a clinical track will devote all of their fellowship experience to clinical training and clinical research. Depending on their requirements, fellows in a clinical track will receive training in modern techniques of clinical investigation and epidemiology. They may or may not have some laboratory training related to their clinical research. Fellows in the clinical track will be expected to see new outpatient referrals in the area of their clinical focus, and they may have additional clinical rotations as consultation coordinator or in special areas of oncology or hematology.
Since it is never too late to begin to plan for research fellowship, we and other members of our program will meet with fellows early on in their clinical fellowship to discuss long-term career goals. We will assist fellows in identifying faculty mentors with whom fellows may wish to work during clinical or basic science research fellowship. While we are unable to guarantee support for fellows who choose to pursue research opportunities outside of BIDMC, our goal is to help fellows craft programs that best serve each fellow in achieving his or her long-term career goals.
Many fellows elect to take additional training in research after completion of their fellowship program. The decision to do so is contingent upon the availability of funds for this purpose.
Overview of Research Programs
Cancer and hematology research at the BIDMC is centered in the Hematology-0ncology Division. The Division includes a total of 53 full time faculty, of whom the majority are committed to research, as demonstrated by their leadership in laboratory or clinical research programs. There are 6 Professors, 16 Associate Professors, and 14 Assistant Professors, with the remainder holding appointments as Instructors. The breadth of scientific inquiry includes: the molecular biology of hematopoiesis in normal and malignant cells, erythropoietin biology and biochemistry, prostate cancer biology, signal transduction/cell cycle regulation, recombination, cellular immunology and immunotherapy (vaccine development, adoptive immunotherapy, genetic modification of T cells). Three of the faculty are or have been Scholars of the Leukemia Society of America, and 2 are Pew Scholars. There are 3 SPORE grants and many R01s. The Division has approximately $19M dollars in extramural support for laboratory-based research for the current year (2004). A training grant (T32) in Cancer Biology provides support for 7 postdoctoral slots for Hematology-Oncology Fellows and post-doctoral researchers in participating laboratories.
Hemostasis and Thrombosis research is centered in a Division of Hemostasis and Thrombosis led by Drs. Bruce and Barbara Furie, although some members of the Hematology-Oncology Division have clinical and/or research interests in this area as well (e.g., Drs. Chris Carpenter and Kenneth Bauer). Moreover, all members of the Hemostasis and Thrombosis Division have appointments in Hematology/Oncology. A separate segment describes the research in that area.
A significant clinical research program exists in parallel with the laboratory programs. The clinical research program is supported in part by a grant from the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), NIH and Industria research grant awards. During the last calendar year 550 patients (of a total of 3000 new cancer patients seen at the medical center) were placed on clinical trials.
In some cases, clinical and basic research programs are integrated to constitute a productive translational research program; e.g., there are integrated research programs in Biologics, Cancer Vaccine development, anti-angiogenesis and Prostate Cancer Biology. An investigational imaging program is in its nascent phases, with well-funded efforts directed at bladder and prostate cancer. Translational research initiatives are underway in breast and lung cancer. These are areas in which major recruitments are underway.
In addition to research carried out by members of the Hematology-Oncology Division proper, several other BIDMC investigators have research interests that are relevant to cancer biology. These include members of other Divisions within the Department of Medicine (e.g., Molecular Medicine, Nephrology, Gastroenterology, Rheumatology) and faculty in the Department of Pathology. Most of these investigators participate as mentors on the T32 grant. In addition, a monthly faculty research dinner series, open to all investigators with cancer-related research interests and their post-doctoral fellows, is held throughout the academic year.
BIDMC clinical and laboratory researchers (from the Hematology-Oncology Division and affiliated scientists) also participate in the newly formed Dana Farber Harvard Cancer Center (DFHCC), the NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center at H.M.S., and several have assumed significant scientific and leadership roles. These include leadership roles in the Scientific Council (Neel, Cantley), Cell Biology (Neel), and Angiogenesis (Sukhatme) Programs, the Cutaneous Oncology (Atkins), Prostate (Balk, Bubley), and Breast Cancer (Tung, Neel) SPORE grants, and leadership positions in cross-institutional PPGs, (Cantley, Tenen), and on the Executive Committee of the DFHCC (Schnipper).
