Clinician-Investigator
The Clinician-Investigator track provides an opportunity for fellows to understand the complex biological characteristics of human cancer and to devise specific therapies through drug discovery and development. Emphasis will be placed not only on protocol design, implementation, and biostatistics, but also on the biology of human cancer. One or more protocols will be developed in collaboration with a faculty mentor. Course work can be completed at The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and at the School of Public Health. Externships of two to eight weeks may be conducted at government agencies and in private sector companies for fellows to obtain different perspectives on drug development. From these experiences, a fellow on the Clinician-Investigator track should better understand how drugs are chosen for development, the time frame for pre-clinical and clinical evaluation, the impact of market analysis, the navigation of regulatory policies and procedures, and the role of the NCI in facilitating discovery, scale-up, and evaluation of new drugs .

Physician-Scientist
The Physician-Scientist track permits fellows to work in the laboratory for two years under the direction of a research mentor. Fellows who excel during this time may be eligible to compete for our new junior faculty Physician-Scientist awards. These awards permit 80% protected time for an additional three to five years for faculty at the assistant professor level. Consequently, a total of five to seven years of support could be available for a young investigator to develop the expertise, credibility, and publication record to compete successfully for peer-reviewed funding. This interval also provides the option for formal course work and the completion of requirements for a Ph.D. at The University of Texas at Houston, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences .

Community-Based Research/M.P.H.
Our community-based research track takes advantage of our institution’s extensive program in cancer control and chemoprevention. The Master of Public Health Program is designed to prepare health educators to assume professional positions with primary responsibility for health promotion and educational programs. It also provides training for health professionals in fields other than health education. The elements of the program include modules in health promotion and education, as well as satisfactory course work in each of the following five core areas: Biostatistics; Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences; Epidemiology and Disease Control; Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences; and Management, Policy, and Community Health .