Grant: Meetings, Planning & Dissemination Grant: Cancer Research

The medical community has a scientific and ethical imperative to educate itself regarding the conduct of research involving human subjects. Given the limited formal exposure to this broad topic in the undergraduate and postgraduate medical curriculum, there exists an urgent need to provide new investigators with the fundamentals of clinical trial conduct as it pertains to the current scientific and Canadian regulatory environment. NCIC Clinical Trials Group is an internationally-recognized organization with a mandate to conduct clinical trials in cancer medicine. A strategic priority of the Group is the education and training of investigators who wish to pursue a career in clinical research. The New Investigator Clinical Trials Course in a 3-day course hosted at Queen's University by NCIC Clinical Trials Group on a biannual basis. The purpose of this course is twofold: to provide the tools and resources that enable the investigator to participate in clinical research in an informed and responsible manner, and to engage these individuals as collaborators and future leaders in the international scientific agenda. Using lecture and interactive workshop formats, participants will be taught the fundamentals of preclinical and clinical research design/analysis (phase I-III). In addition, they will become familiar with the regulatory, legal and ethical standards that govern clinical research in Canada and internationally. Finally, they will become familiar with research opportunities that exist at the NCIC Clinical Trials Group. Faculty for this course is selected from the scientific leadership within NCIC Clinical Trials Group Central Office, as well as member investigators who are recognized leaders in the field of cancer clinical research.