Grant: Operating Grant - Randomized Controlled Trials Mentoring Program

The goal of this RCT mentoring application is to develop the mentee, Dr. Darrell Tan, into an independent investigator and future leader in clinical trials in the field of HIV/AIDS, particularly in the area of co-infections and complications of aging. To achieve this goal, the mentee and primary mentor, Dr. Sharon Walmsley, have planned mentorship activities that build on the mentee's research training and benefit from a unique research environment blending the strengths of two large academic hospitals at the University of Toronto, the University Health Network (UHN) and St. Michael's Hospital (SMH), with national and international clinical trial research networks. Specific mentorship activities correspond to the three objectives of the CIHR mentoring program: developing skills in RCT conception, design and implementation. The mentee will participate in the activities of the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network (CTN), a partnership of clinical trial sites across Canada with extensive experience in HIV clinical trials; participate in a program of weekly learning sessions with specific objectives covering key issues in clinical trials; lead regular rounds on 'special topics in clinical trials' at the SMH Applied Health Research Centre; continue his role on the CTN scientific review committee; assume increasing responsibility for CTN-240, an ongoing CIHR-funded trial; initiate at least one new clinical trial based on results from the mentee's PhD studies; assist in a new clinical trials capacity-building program of the Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative; and build clinical trial capacity at the SMH HIV Clinic by initiating its participation in existing trials.