# Training Program in Translational Brain Tumor Research

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2020 · $415,430

## Abstract

Project Summary
The objective of this program is to provide predoctoral and postdoctoral training for individuals interested in
careers in translational brain tumor research. Despite the best efforts of neurosurgeons, neuro-oncologists,
and laboratory-based scientists, brain cancer remains among the most deadly of all malignancies.
Improvements in brain cancer therapy have come slowly, in part because of the relative dearth of individuals
trained in a manner that allows them to communicate with both clinicians and lab-based investigators. This is
a renewal application for years 11-15 of the T32 Training Grant in Translational Brain Tumor Research at the
University of California San Francisco. The UCSF Brain Tumor Center is the largest program in the nation
that focuses on developing translational brain tumor investigators of the future; individuals who can move
seamlessly between clinical and laboratory worlds and in doing so can more effectively contribute to the
development of new therapeutic interventions for brain tumors. We intend to build upon the training successes
in the previous cycles, maintaining the number of trainees and mentors. This application requests support for
a postdoctoral and predoctoral Training Program (three postdoctoral trainees, 1 predoctoral trainees). The
postdoctoral trainees are selected from the labs and clinics of the faculty, and the predoc trainee is drawn from
the top-tier students in the Biomedical Sciences Program. The faculty of the Program consists of 23 mentors,
and a core of 19 research labs whose work has made the UCSF brain tumor community one of the most
productive and recognized in the world. Over the course of the two years of support requested, the trainees
work with the PIs of these labs and clinics to develop and complete meaningful and significant translational
brain tumor research projects, and in the process become fluent in laboratory-based and clinical research
techniques. The basic science trainees also have unique, supervised experiences in clinical neuropathology,
clinical neuro-oncology, clinical trial design and a new neurosurgery experience component. At the same time
trainees take part in a faculty-led didactic curriculum uniquely focused on brain tumor-related issues and which
allow trainees to develop a common language with which to discuss and understand brain tumor biology,
diagnostic and therapeutic modalities, and unresolved problems in the field. Additional courses and training
events that encourage effective speaking and writing are included, and there is an extensive selection of
existing courses to help tailor the educational experience of individual trainees. Evaluation and mentoring
mechanisms are included to help ensure success in the program and in attaining future career goals. The
UCSF T32 Program in Translational Brain Tumor Research has a strong track record of attracting well-qualified
individuals, and in successfully preparing investigators to lead translational br...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10023835
- **Project number:** 2T32CA151022-11
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** Joseph F Costello
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $415,430
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2010-09-01 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10023835

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10023835, Training Program in Translational Brain Tumor Research (2T32CA151022-11). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10023835. Licensed CC0.

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