PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT – Indiana Pediatric Scientist Award (IPSA)
A critical need exists for training the next generation of physician scientists with formal education and training
in child health. Challenges remain in an overall shrinking pipeline of junior faculty and in broadening the racial
and gender diversity of the workforce. Without highly trained investigators, who can stretch the limits of current
scientific knowledge, the goal of cutting-edge research that will transform child and adolescent health cannot
be realized. The Indiana University Department of Pediatrics is uniquely positioned to address this need. A
strong, well-established group of basic science investigators in a Departmental Institute have the advantage of
being located directly adjacent to Riley Hospital for Children, the only comprehensive children's hospital in the
state of Indiana. The Department of Pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) is consistently
ranked in the top 10 in NIH funding and its NIH portfolio has more than doubled in the past 8 years. Pediatric
researchers at IUSM have established international reputations in the fields of infectious disease, diabetes,
Rasopathies and other genetic diseases with an increasing signature of bench to bedside science including
repurposing or generating targeted therapeutics. The IUSM and the Riley Children's Foundation have
provided extensive resources necessary for the recruitment of distinguished research faculty and the
professional development of trainees. This support has allowed a strategic and systematic increase in our
entire pipeline development, including a striking increase in K funded junior faculty. Working within this existing
strong institutional foundation, we seek support to further expand the development of an internal and externally
recruited group of broadly diverse pediatric researchers at IUSM. The main objective of the Indiana University
School of Medicine's Indiana Pediatric Scientist Award (IPSA) training program is to provide investigators
committed to pursuing careers as academic pediatric physician scientists with a rigorous and individualized
mentored research experience that elevates each trainee for competitive individual mentored career awards.
The current program is designed specifically for pediatric physician scientists and provides an established
blueprint for success, including structured mentorship, guidance, and progressive goals in order to achieve
independent funding. Consequently, the IPSA program will provide a customized, multi-disciplinary mentorship
with attention to individual learning styles, backgrounds, and interests. Support will allow the IUSM
Department of Pediatrics to continue to expand a rapidly growing, multifaceted program and recruit a talented,
diverse cohort of pediatric physician-scientist trainees to carry out basic and translational research that will
ultimately inform disease pathogenesis and transform health care for children.