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 past grantees’ rewarding experiences with the AACR CORE Training Fellowship program:
- Testimonials from the 2020 (Nicholas Tschernia, Justin Chen) and 2021 (Praful Ravi) grantees
- Inaugural grantee Siddharth (Sid) Sheth’s interview at the AACR Annual Meeting 2019, and 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 or Waltham, MA)
- Early- and late-stage clinical development including, but not limited to, antibody-drug conjugates, immunotherapy, and cell therapy
- Johnson & Johnson (facility location to be agreed to, but possible locations include the greater Boston or Philadelphia areas):
- 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).