AACR Clinical Oncology Research (CORE) Training Fellowships (USA)

The AACR Clinical Oncology Research (CORE) Training Fellowships Program is designed to provide an industry-academic clinical practicum with a unique opportunity for academic clinicians to train in drug development. Each fellowship provides $100,000 over one year for the fellow to work on site at the facility of one of the AACR’s pharmaceutical industry partners.

Please see the following for an account of inaugural grantee Siddharth (Sid) Sheth’s rewarding experience with the AACR CORE Training Fellowship program:

• Interview at the AACR Annual Meeting 2019
• First-person testimonial published in Leading Discoveries

Program Overview

Purpose: This fellowship is designed for early-career clinical scientists who hold a medical degree (MD, DO, or MD/PhD) and are interested in acquiring the knowledge and skills related to drug development from the perspective of the pharmaceutical industry. The fellow will gain real-world experience in drug development, including clinical research, clinical trial design, and data analysis.

Activities: It is expected that the fellow will be accountable for executing clinical activities and research projects to be completed during the one-year program. Depending on the background of the fellow, additional focus areas may also be provided (e.g., preclinical research, biomarker discovery). Opportunities for publication and presentation of completed work will be provided. The industry partners for this program and their areas of interest include the following:

• AstraZeneca (facility located in Gaithersburg, MD):
  • Late-stage clinical development within medical affairs in hematology/oncology
• Johnson & Johnson (facility location to be agreed to, but possible locations include the greater Boston or Philadelphia areas):
  • Early-stage clinical development in interventional immuno-oncology therapies for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
  • Early-stage clinical development program aiming to intercept lung cancers in a high-risk population

Duration: 12 months. Note that the continuous duration of time spent on site at the industry site may be flexible and will be determined on a case-by-case basis between the fellow, the fellow’s academic institution, and the industry partner (e.g., if a fellow must return to their academic institution during parts of the 12-month term to complete clinic duties).

Application Process Overview

1. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis via submission to grants@aacr.org.

2. Submitted applications will be reviewed quarterly by an AACR Scientific Review Committee.

3. Selected fellows will be notified following this review.

4. The start of the grant term is flexible and will be determined upon mutual agreement between the selected fellow, the fellow’s institution, and the industry partner.

Please note that applications will be accepted after the above application deadline but may be reviewed during a later quarterly review period.