Transdisciplinary Research in Energetics and Cancer early career investigator training program: first year results

Energy imbalance increases cancer burden by increasing cancer risk and mortality. Training early career investigators on conducting impactful energy balance and cancer research is needed. We developed a Transdisciplinary Research in Energetics and Cancer (TREC) Training Program for early career investigators. This analysis examined program satisfaction, knowledge gained, publications, and awards among Year 1 participants (i.e., fellows). The program consists of an in-person course, followed by 1 year of mentorship. Faculty and fellows completed precourse and postcourse surveys. Following the mentorship period, we surveyed fellows for TREC-related research productivity, including publications and grant funding attributed to the program. Twenty fellows were accepted into the program: 3 basic, 7 clinical, and 10 population scientists. Sixteen fellows were junior faculty and four were postdoctoral fellows. The course included ~50 lectures, small group sessions, and faculty–fellow sessions. 96.7% of attendees rated the course in the highest categories of “good/very good.” Knowledge significantly improved in 37 of 39 research competencies (94.8%). In the 18 months following the course, fellows published 25 manuscripts, with 3 published in journals with impact factor ≥10. Nineteen grants were funded to TREC fellows (i.e., 7 National Institutes of Health awards, 2 American Cancer Society [ACS] awards, and 10 foundation/pilot awards), and 7 fellows received career promotions. The program’s impact will be defined by the degree to which TREC fellows produce discoveries that could improve the health of populations at risk for and/or surviving cancer. Upon the conclusion of our fifth year in 2021, we will publicly disseminate the program material.

The Balancing Act

Upon hearing a multitude of complaints from faculty members about the required training module prior to teaching online courses at Great Plains University for the first time, the instructional designers at GPU's North Central Campus decided to work with a faculty fellow to create a local version of the training. Before discussing specific modifications to the training module, the group delved into the interpersonal aspects of the relationship between instructional designers and faculty members in higher education. They suspected that these relationship dynamics had something to do with the shortcomings of the existing training module, and they wanted to ensure that they addressed them in the new version of the training. The result was a set of recommendations sent to the Provost at NCC that aligned the modifications to the training intervention to the performance problems in the institution, while simultaneously accounting for the interpersonal aspects identified in their discussions.

Thanks and Welcome!

It is with saddened heart that I announce the retirement of Dr. Nancy Richeson, PhD, CTRS, FDRT as Editorin- Chief of the American Journal of Recreation Therapy (AJRT). . .As with many transitions, change can be unsettling. Fortunately for the American Journal of Recreation Therapy and the field, I am pleased to welcome Dr. Allison Wilder, PhD, CTRS/L as our new Editor-in-Chief. Dr. Wilder is Associate Professor and Faculty Fellow at the Center on Aging and Community Living in the Department of Recreation Management and Policy at the University of New Hampshire—College of Health and Human Services.

The Importance of Including the Deans

This article describes the benefits of including institutional leadership (the deans) in a faculty fellowship program where faculty were tasked with implementing a curricular innovation at their home institution. These benefits included: (1) serving as an ally, advocate, and defender for the faculty fellow; (2) seeing the bigger picture and how the fellowship can be leveraged to benefit the institution in other ways; and (3) assisting to ensure the fellowship project will be ongoing at their institution.