Windows Into Industry: AACR Clinical Oncology Research Training Fellowships
Many fellowship programs offer protected research time for clinical fellows to participate in laboratory and clinic-based research as well as their medical training and patient care. This research experience allows clinical fellows to keep abreast of recent medical advancements and provides them with the expertise required to contribute to laboratory-based research or clinical trials. However, the majority of research experience is gained in an academic setting where projects are mostly focused on basic science and translational studies, or small clinical studies.
Identifying a paucity of training opportunities for clinical fellows to gain industry experience, the AACR launched a unique training program for clinical scientists to gain real-world knowledge in drug development, clinical research, clinic trial design, and data analysis. Launched in 2018, the AACR-Clinical Oncology Research Training Fellowship offers early-career clinical scientists $100,000 over one year to work on site at the facility of one of the AACR’s pharmaceutical industry partners: Bayer, AstraZeneca, or Johnson & Johnson.
Praful Ravi, MB, BChir, MRCP, received the AACR-Bayer Clinical Oncology Research Fellowship in 2021, after completing his medical oncology fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. At the Bayer facility in Cambridge, MA, there was an opportunity for clinical fellows to work on early- and/or late-stage clinical development in oncology. During his fellowship, Dr. Ravi worked with a Bayer team developing early clinical studies of targeted therapies in prostate cancer. As he explained, “These were the first studies of their compound(s) to be administered to patients, so there was a lot of emphasis on safety and tolerability but also looking to see any early signs of efficacy.”
Dr. Ravi is now a medical oncologist at the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he continues his clinical research in genitourinary cancers. When asked how receiving the fellowship impacted his career direction, he responded, “It confirmed to me that I wanted to be a clinical investigator, as it allowed the opportunity to develop new clinical trials or paradigms in the way patients are treated but fundamentally is linked back to improving patient care. This is the most rewarding aspect of this career path – you can use data or questions developed from the patients being treated in clinic to develop new protocols or therapies.”
Describing the main benefits of the program, Dr. Ravi said, “Receiving the AACR-Bayer Clinical Oncology Research Training Fellowship provided me great insight into the way drug development works in a big pharmaceutical company and how trials are designed or conceived, which is definitely something I have taken forward in my career.” He also spoke of the invaluable collaborations he was able to form during the fellowship which he said, “have extended beyond just the period of the fellowship, so that I can be a part of the trials from the academic side that were being developed during the time of my fellowship.”
Nicholas Tschernia, MD, applied for the AACR Clinical Oncology Research Training Fellowship after hearing of the programs benefits from Siddarth Sheth, DO, MPH, assistant professor of medicine in the division of Hematology/Oncology at UNC Chapel Hill, and the inaugural recipient of the 2018 AACR-AstraZeneca-MedImmune Clinical Research Training Fellowship. Dr. Tschernia was interested in working at AstraZeneca, Gaithersburg, MD, for the opportunity to work on early and late-stage clinical development in immuno-oncology and received the AACR-AstraZeneca Clinical Immuno-Oncology Research Training Fellowship in 2020.
Describing his fellowship year, Dr. Tschernia said, “I had the opportunity to work on several projects at different phases of development. From early phase trials involving dual-targeting checkpoint inhibitor antibodies and their deployment across international sites, to in-house lab work elucidating the immunogenicity of fusion peptides we were testing as live in vivo cell therapy imaging tracers.” He went on to explain that the experience, “helped solidify my interest in early phase clinical trials.”
“The greatest benefit of the AACR-AstraZeneca Clinical Immuno-Oncology Research Training Fellowship was in learning that biotechnology companies want to collaborate with academic investigators. It has subsequently placed me in a position to work with companies’ hand-in-glove in accomplishing early phase trial work while meticulously balancing party interests of the patients – first and foremost – with those of our clinical site and industry partners,” stated Dr. Tschernia. He also added, “Receiving the fellowship was a clear boon to my application for post-Hematology/Oncology sub-specialized medical fellowship programs in immunotherapy and cell therapy. Further, my time working within AstraZeneca during the fellowship subsequently aided my search for a faculty position after graduating. Programs and interviewers were curious as to the nature and scope of the fellowship and the unique insights afforded from completing such an outstanding opportunity.”
Justin Chen, MD, was also a recipient of the 2020 AACR-AstraZeneca Clinical Immuno-Oncology Research Training Fellowship whilst a Hematology-Oncology fellow at the University of California, UC Davis. “My primary role during the fellowship was to lend a clinically focused voice to projects focused on moving compounds out of the lab and into real-world practice,” said Dr. Chen, adding, “Oncology drug development must be focused on patient benefit, and medical oncologists are trained to recognize the disease in question, the therapeutic landscapes, the unmet needs, and how all these impact patient outcomes and quality-of-life.”
“The AACR-AstraZeneca Clinical Immuno-Oncology Research Training Fellowship helped me gain a more complete perspective for how novel therapies move from bench to bedside. I gained incredible insight into the processes required to conduct clinical trials and learned to appreciate the important role that technology holds in harnessing the vast amount of healthcare data towards developing therapeutics effective at improving patients’ lives,” reflected Dr. Chen. He went on to say, “This experience was formative in challenging me to pursue more entrepreneurial experiences. Being immersed in a fast-paced environment within industry at AstraZeneca highlighted to me how crucial the physician voice is in driving innovation.”
Dr. Chen also highlighted the benefits of the fellowship beyond the involvement in real-world drug development, saying, “I met wonderful individuals throughout my time in the fellowship. Many colleagues have become friends and mentors whom I continue to keep in touch with. I credit these individuals with fostering my growth professionally and personally – they granted me confidence to learn, be challenged, and lead the various efforts I was involved in. These relationships helped me broaden my horizons and opened opportunities to continue pursuing a dynamic career where clinical medicine, science, and novel technologies intersect.” He added, “I furthermore appreciated the opportunity to work with and learn from engaging teams where eclectic skillsets and backgrounds were unified towards a common goal of advancing the science to fight cancer.”
In a joint effort to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion, the recently launched AACR-Johnson & Johnson Clinical Research Training Fellowships to Further Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are available for clinical scientists who belong to an underrepresented group. At the most recent industry partner, fellowship recipients will have the opportunity to participate in either early-stage clinical development in interventional immuno-oncology therapies for non-small cell lung cancer or an early-stage clinical development program aiming to intercept lung cancer in a high-risk population at a Johnson & Johnson site.
Applications for the AACR Clinical Research Training Fellowship are open year-round with applications reviewed on a quarterly basis. The latest call for applications includes open opportunities to the above-described AACR-Johnson & Johnson Clinical Research Training Fellowships to Further Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.