MD/PhD student Callan O’Shea, a member of the Princeton University Department of Molecular Biology (MOL), is the newest recipient of the . O’Shea joined the ranks of six other Fellows from Rutgers University who also received the award this past summer.
The T32 program is an initiative of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) aimed at supporting biomedical and behavioral research training in the United States. The NJ ACTS T32 fellowship is designed to offer translational science training to predoctoral trainees, providing them with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to advance diagnostics, therapeutics, clinical interventions, and behavioral modifications that improve health. The program provides stipends and support for conference travel and research-related expenses while equipping fellows with the skills and experience necessary to become leaders in their fields.
“For me, this award was really symbolic of uniting the two halves of my training—the medical and the Ph.D. research,” said O’Shea. “This grant is really the ‘glue’ in putting these two pieces together.”
“Glue” is also an apt metaphor for the broader initiative as a whole. Translational science research bridges the gap between the discovery of new medical treatments and the logistics involved in developing ways of “translating” those breakthroughs into practical improvements that will benefit patients. In essence, translational research generates innovations, approaches, and processes that overcome longstanding challenges and bottlenecks in medical research. It seeks to transform how research is conducted across a range of diseases, making the process faster, more efficient, and more impactful. To read the full story.