We are pleased to announce that Jesse Fann, MD, MPH, will direct a new departmental Clinician Scientist Training Program (CSTP) that will identify, engage, and support trainees and junior faculty members who would like a mentored research experience and develop as clinician scientists. Dr. Fann was selected for this new leadership role after an in-depth search that unanimously recommended him because of his tremendous experience as a clinician scientist and his passion and vision for inspiring and supporting the next generation of clinician scientists in the department.
A professor in the department, Dr. Fann leads the department’s Psychooncology program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and he has more than two decades of experience with conducting clinical research in the areas of psychooncology and traumatic brain injury, supported by numerous federal and foundation grants and resulting in over 150 peer reviewed research articles. He is looking forward to establishing and leading a program that will stimulate and support trainees and early-career faculty toward successful careers as clinician scientists. To support this new role, Dr. Fann has been named the inaugural holder of the Mark N. Tabbutt Endowed Professorship for Education in Brain Health funded by the Garvey Institute for Brain Health Solutions.
Under Dr. Fann’s direction and with support from Andie Uomoto, MPA, the CSTP will provide pilot grant funding to psychiatry and psychology residents and fellows; develop a competitive research start-up funding mechanism for early career faculty in our department; work closely with the directors of our psychology and psychiatry training programs to incorporate opportunities for quality improvement, research and research training into our existing training programs; and support training for faculty mentors active in the CSTP. A new Clinical Trials Consultation and Technical Assistance Program (C-TAP) led by Mary Hatch, PhD, and Sharon Garrett, MPH, MA, will be available to assist trainees and new investigators with study design, implementation and dissemination efforts. In addition to the Garvey Institute, the CSTP is made possible by gifts from several other supporters of the department. We hope to launch the first round of pilot grant funding for trainees this Fall.
Thank you to Heidi Combs, MD; John Neumaier, MD, PhD; Anna Ratzliff, MD, PhD; and Mark Sullivan, MD, PhD, for serving on the selection committee for the Mark N. Tabbutt Endowed Professorship for Education in Brain Health and to Mary Pyper for supporting the search.