A cadre of 12 highly experienced faculty mentors and 16 participants are set to arrive at the University of Utah for the second annual FIT Program next month. The 16 experienced investigators who were selected to attend the Program possess the knowledge and skills required to submit a competitive extramural funding grant such as the NIH. The 16 participants selected to attend the FIT Program are as follows: Kim Adcock, Larry Dent, Cynthia Jackevicius, Effie Kuti, Jeannie Lee, Tien Ng, Asad (“Sid”) Patanwala, Hanna Phan, Terri Warholak, Eric Ip, Sally Huston, Jean-Venable “Kelly” R. Goode, Amy Franks, Carrie McAdam Marx, Joshua Caballero, and Nicholas Norgard. Throughout the week, these 16 investigators will maximize pilot data while working with highly funded, experienced mentors from around the country in a collegial setting.

The core activity of the FIT, called the Grant Proposal Group Sessions, teams the investigators with two faculty mentors and two other peer investigators throughout the week. In addition to lectures, participants will engage in panel discussions and small group breakout sessions for basic, clinical, and health outcomes research topics. Moreover, participants will have ample opportunity to consult with all the NIH-funded FIT Program faculty mentors, which include two biostatisticians, during one-on-one office hours.

“The success of the program hinges upon the right combination of NIH-funded faculty and participants hungry to take their careers to the next level,” said Susan Fagan, Chair of the Research Institute Board of Trustees. The 2009 FIT Mentor Team is as follows: Drs. Barry Carter, John Cleary, Reginald Frye, Susan Fagan, Lynda Welage, Gene Morse, and Mark Munger; Mary Gerkovich, Ph.D.; Greg Stoddard, Ph.D.; Julie Wright; and Gary Yee.

The FIT Program is partially supported by an educational donation provided by Amgen and in-kind support from the host institution, University of Utah, College of Pharmacy. The American College of Clinical Pharmacy is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education. The 2009 Focused Investigator Training (FIT) Program will provide up to 32.5 contact hours of continuing education credit.