Overall Program Requirements

To successfully complete the Translating Obesity, Metabolic Dysfunction and Comorbid Disease States Training Program, trainees are expected to meet the following program requirements.

• Complete required courses
• Create an Individual Development Plan (IDP) to be reviewed every 6 months
• Submit a F-award application within 18 months of program entry.
• Complete required presentations (3 per year)
• Participate in bi-weekly Metabolism Journal Club or Topics meetings
• Obtain at least 8 days (approx. 64 hours) of either basic or clinical translational lab exposure.
• Attend annual obesity conference and monthly KC-DONS seminars
• Attend 6 obesity, metabolism, and/or associated pathology-themed seminars (per year) of a contrasting research department. (i.e., basic trainee attends 6 clinical seminars)
• Participate in bi-monthly TOMADS didactic workshops
• Track activities and career developments

Required Courses

Trainees must complete all courses during the first year of study.

• Intervention for the Prevention & Management of Obesity (DN876, 3 hrs),
• Introduction to Research Ethics (GSMC 856, 1 hr),
• Fundamentals of Biostatistics (BIO 714, 3 hrs) OR Programming in Basic Statistics (BIO 823, 3 hrs)

Individual Development Plan

• Trainees must create a CIMER-based IDP detailing how they will meet program requirements.
  • Training Goals and Objectives – include an approximate timeline for reaching each one
  • Activities Planned – specific activities and their purpose
    • Research, seminars/presentations, career development, meetings with mentors, etc.
    • Cross-training research exposures
• Trainees must meet with the program directors, their mentors and their dissertation committee to discuss and develop their IDP within 2 months of appointment to the program. They must meet again every 6 months to evaluate their progress and update their IDP.
• The IDP will include a mentorship agreement to be signed by trainees and their mentors.

F-award Application

Trainees must submit an F-award application within 18 months of appointment to the program. If no grant is awarded, trainees must reapply at least once every appointment period.

Cross-training Research Lab Exposure

• Basic science trainees, their primary mentor and program directors will collaborate to find a clinical co-mentor for trainee.

• Trainee must rotate in a clinical lab to obtain translational research exposure.
  • Examples of exposure: observing screening and consenting of participants, data collection, scheduling modalities, human research techniques, data management and analysis, etc.
  • Trainees must pass IRB training requirements before rotation into clinical labs.
• Basic science trainees must attend 6 clinical science department seminars per year.

• Clinical trainees, their primary mentor, and program directors will collaborate to find a basic science co-mentor for trainee.

• Trainee must rotate in a basic science lab to obtain translational research exposure.
  • Focus on learning biochemical, molecular, and physiological approaches to conducting studies in pre-clinical models.
  • Trainees are required to pass IACUC training and other equivalent training necessary for basic research (e.g., biohazard, chemical safety, etc.)
• Clinical trainees must attend 6 basic science department seminars per year.

Required Annual Presentations

• TOMADS Training Program’s Annual Fall Retreat
• Seminar presentation in home department OR oral presentation at a regional or national meeting
• KU Medical Center Student Research Forum in April

Required Didactic Activities

• Trainees must participate in bi-monthly didactic workshops held jointly by the TOMADS Training Program and the KC-MORE COBRE.
  • Topics of didactic sessions include grant writing, leading a lab, running a lab budget, increasing diversity in recruitment, working with IACUC/IRB, subawards, becoming a resilient scientist, etc.
• Trainees must participate in a Journal Club meeting monthly
  • Journal Club – Trainee will lead at least one discussion about basic science or clinical science papers with translational relevance.

Required Conferences and Seminars

• The Obesity Society’s annual ObesityWeek conference, or a similar conference with approval
• Kansas City Diabetes, Obesity, and Nutrition Seminar Series (KC-DONS) seminars

Elective Activities for IDP (examples)

• Bioinformatics Training and Opportunities
• Frontiers CTSI Scholars Club monthly meetings
• Research Coordinator Bootcamp
• Present at National Scientific Meetings and KUMC Research Symposiums
• Research & Discovery Grand Grounds (focused on rigor and reproducibility)

Tracking Activities and Accomplishments (separate from IDP)

• Trainees must submit a record of their activities and accomplishments every quarter:
  • Seminars attended,
  • Presentations given,
  • Workshops attended,
  • Career development activities,
  • Publications (includes unpublished papers) – provide the status of manuscripts as well as the trainee's role in its development.
  • Cross-training exposures – provide a short summary detailing what you focused on/learned and how it related to your research.
• Trainees must create and regularly update a LinkedIn account to assist the TOMADS training program in tracking their career activities and accomplishments after graduation.