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Wireless Health Scholar

image Former Wireless Health Scholar Nitasha Bakhru, M.D.,  talks with a potential participant in her novel study in which continuous glucose monitoring will be used to help evaluate the effects of glycemic variability on epigenetic markers in type 1 diabetes.  She describes the palm-sized glucose sensor device as well as an example of an online record of glucose measurements produced by continuous monitoring.

With funds from Qualcomm, the Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) sponsors the Wireless Health Scholar program.

Eligible Candidates

Scholars are enrolled immediately after or near the completion of residency or fellowship training or shortly after embarking upon a clinical career. The program is aimed at young and mid-career physicians who have discovered a passion for discovery and a desire to translate technologic innovation into meaningful clinical practice interventions.

Program Objectives

The program provides the scholar with the knowledge and skills that will enable him/her to:

  • carefully refine research hypotheses
  • compete effectively for grant funding
  • persuasively articulate research findings in both written and verbal form
  • effectively analyze scientific data
  • become aware of the array of new and evolving wireless medical devices
  • manage a research laboratory or research group
  • develop a more clear understanding of a variety of basic science disciplines and/or engineering principles as they apply to clinical discovery
  • effectively collaborate with wireless technology, engineers and other clinical investigators.

All are accomplished via close interaction with the other 450 graduate students and 800 post-doctoral students of TSRI’s Kellogg School of Science and Technology and the faculty of TSRI, STSI, Scripps Clinic and Qualcomm Life.

Program Curriculum

The curriculum of the program involves a series of required courses/seminars and elective courses offered through the Kellogg School of Science and Technology, which is consistently rated as one of the top seven graduate schools in the biologic and chemical sciences by US News and World Report.

Required courses in Critical Thinking and Scientific Communication, Basic Biostatistics,  Clinical Trial Design and Execution, Systems Engineering, and Molecular Medicine will be completed during the first or second year of the program.

Elective courses in Molecular Biology, Applied Bioinformatics, the Business of Biotechnology, Cell Biology, Structural Biology, Immunology, Current Topics in Immunology, Virology, and Neurobiology, and other engineering disciplines will be available to all scholars.

Scholar Research Activity

Seminar based study of trial design and scientific communication and fundamental basic science represents a minority of the scholar’s activity, however. The majority of time is spent in refining research skills and conducting clinical research in the application of new wireless medical devices.

Scholars have an opportunity to participate in a rotational laboratory curriculum during which they learn scientific techniques as they apply to drug discovery, behavioral medicine, community-wide and multicenter trials, wireless medical/physiologic sensing device development,  and much more. After an introduction to the research laboratories,  the scholar identifies a field of research and a laboratory in which he/she intends to complete his/her master’s thesis.

Over the course of approximately 18 months,  the scholar conducts intensive study within one of the laboratories at Scripps Clinic, the West Wireless Health Institute or one of the many affiliated research centers in the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards consortium. During this time frame, the scholar prepares a thesis, receives guidance and counsel from a thesis advisory committee, and publishes at least one but likely several manuscripts related to his/her thesis.

Summary

The Wireless Health Scholar program offered by the Scripps Translational Science Institute in conjunction with Qualcomm Life and the Kellogg School of Science and Technology of The Scripps Research Institute provides an energetic and scientifically minded young or mid-career physician with the tools that will allow him/her to bridge the void that exists between evolving wireless computer based technologies and the bedside. This practice and study program provides scholars with the skills and opportunities to allow them to make fundamental contributions to medical science and public health that may impact generations to come. These capabilities are acquired in a very short two years with a competitive stipend provided and an intent that the scholar will remain clinically active in his/her field of medicine.

For more information,  please contact STSI at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or (858) 554-5708. Applications may be downloaded from the web site and emailed directly to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Contact Information:
Scripps Translational Science Institute
Attn: Wireless Health Scholar Program
3344 North Torrey Pines Court, Suite 300
La Jolla, CA 92037 USA
TEL: 858-554-5708
FAX: 858-546-9272
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Wireless Health Scholar 2011 Application [downloadable]

WWHI Scholar Application - 2011 [PC]
 WWHI Scholar Application - 2011 [Mac]

2010-2012 West Wireless Health Scholar

Preventive Medicine Residency in Wireless Health

We are very excited to announce a new residency program on behalf of our sister Institute, the West Wireless Health Institute.

Learn More…