John A. Burns School of Medicine
651 Ilalo Street, MEB 411
Honolulu, HI 96813
Tel: (808) 692-1840
Web: qhs.jabsom.hawaii.edu/
Faculty
*J. J. Chen, PhD (Interim Chair, Associate Graduate Program Chair)—biostatistics
*K. Csiszar, PhD (Graduate Program Chair)—medical genetics
*H. Ahn, PhD—biostatistics
*A. Brown, PhD—nutrition and disease
*J. Davis, PhD—biostatistics
*Y. Deng, PhD—bioinformatics
*V. Khadka PhD—bioinformatics
*E. Lim, PhD—biostatistics
*C. Siriwardhana, PhD—biostatistics
Degree Offered: MS in clinical and translational research
The Academic Program
Faculty of the Department of Complementary & Integrative Medicine (CIM) conduct original and collaborative research in integrative medicine and quantitative health sciences, including biostatistics and bioinformatics. The CIM department also hosts two JABSOM quantitative health sciences core facilities, Biostatistics Core and Bioinformatics Core.
CIM faculty also provide education and training in clinical research, quantitative health sciences, and integrative medicine. The department houses the graduate program in clinical and translational research.
Graduate Study
The Clinical and Translational Research (CTR) graduate program will prepare graduates with skills for successful careers in clinical and translational research and research support. The CTR program leading to a MS degree is currently offered with two tracks, both available in either Plan A (thesis option) or Plan B, (capstone both project option): Clinical Research (CR) and Quantitative Health Sciences (QHS).
The CR track focuses on the study of methods suitable to investigate clinical research topics. Students enrolled in the CR track are required to complete a combination of course work and clinical research. The competency domains include clinical and translational research, quantitative health skill, professionalism, communication, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Students will also develop the ability to identify and resolve ethical issues in clinical research, to ensure the safeguarding of human subjects, and to understand the workings of Institutional Review Boards and relevant organizational requirements. In addition, students will develop and/or increase their capacity in obtaining research funding from agencies such as the National Institute of Health (NIH) and others. The QHS track contributes to a field that requires specific analytic skills and is one that is currently lacking sufficient numbers of experts. Students enrolled in the QHS track will acquire skills in biostatistics and bioinformatics, and master the scientific principles and methodologies that underlie basic science, and clinical and translational research methods.
In addition to offering knowledge and skills needed for careers in clinical and translational research, the program functions as a supportive mechanism for newly trained investigators, actively facilitating career development and encouraging research collaborations, particularly those related to health disparities research. By providing high quality training to doctoral and post-doctoral candidates, the program aims to increase the critical mass of clinical and translational research at UH, including its minority investigators. Targeting junior faculty, fellows, residents, and doctoral candidates from biomedical sciences, nursing, social work, psychology and public health, the interdisciplinary nature of the program broadens students’ perspectives and increases opportunities for innovative, cross-disciplinary collaborations in clinical and translational research. Graduates of the program pursue research and research support careers in academia, government laboratories, healthcare organizations, and pharmaceutical companies.
Regarding long-term career outlook and job opportunities for program graduates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the employment in clinical and associated research will grow overall by 8% in the U.S. The State of Hawai‘i projects a higher, 34.8%, growth rate in medical scientists, and a 13.9% growth rate in computer and mathematics-related occupations by 2020.