Over 80% of training in the second and third years is devoted almost exclusively to "hands-on" research. The balance of time is spent in a one-half day a week continuity clinic of the fellow's choice (continuity clinic sites are at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) or the Veteran's Administration Puget Sound (VAPS). Laboratory and clinical research opportunities are emphasized. Throughout the research years, most trainees will spend a major portion of their time in the laboratory. However, trainees are given the opportunity and encouraged to participate in the planning and conduct of clinical research protocols, and some trainees choose clinical research training exclusively. Although many of the faculty preceptors are committed to hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and their individual programs fit under the broad umbrella of HCT, the individual research programs are very heterogeneous, including a broad spectrum of studies in cancer biology and cancer therapy. Each fellow will have the opportunity to select a research area from one of the broadly outlined Programmatic Research Areas listed below. Specific levels of training will depend upon previous research experience. The majority of the entering fellows have had substantial previous laboratory experience. Generally, the second year is spent learning research techniques by collaborating on research projects within the mentor's program and developing the fellows' research projects; the third year is spent carrying out the fellows' research initiatives.
With approval of the Program Director and the Program Committee, fellows make the choice of research area according to their long-term goals. The project areas outlined below provide a general idea of the types of projects available. The Programmatic Research Area descriptions represent an organizational method of the research groups. These research groups may overlap and fellows often train in more than one overlapping area. The general philosophy is that fellows will be most successful if they are allowed to pursue research endeavors that are of value to them and are consistent with their research interests and goals. Accordingly, a substantial degree of latitude is given to the trainees in choosing projects and in allowing for movement between projects during training.
Scientific research at Fred Hutchinson is organized into programs, each containing about 10 to 20 faculty members.
Scientific programs are the intellectual focal points of activity at the center. Some programs are quite informal, with people getting together for seminars or journal clubs about their areas of interest; some are more focused on a particular cancer specialty, while other programs are formal groups of investigators working in a team approach to achieve specific scientific goals.
Each program has a head, responsible for organizing the activities of the program, and an associate program head, responsible for communicating with the other scientists at the center about the research of the program.
Most faculty members of Fred Hutchinson participate in several scientific programs. Programs usually have representatives from more than one division, and often from all divisions. Therefore, they constitute the forums for interdisciplinary research and communication.
*See http://www.fhcrc.org/science/investigators.html for a more detailed overview of specific laboratory research.
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