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NIH grant 1R25HD117722-01A1: Duke Summer Training in Academic Research - Advanced Methods Training (STAR - AMT)
Institute: {'code': 'HD', 'abbreviation': 'NICHD', 'name': 'Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development', 'admin_org_id': '12500030', 'admin_funding_url': ''}. PI: Sarah C Armstrong. Award: $161996.
Start: 2026-07-24T00:00:00.
The proposed Duke Summer Training in Academic Research—Advanced Methods Training (STAR—
AMT) program will provide a high-quality research experience for upper-level undergraduate students,
graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and junior faculty in order to attract them to, and prepare them for,
research careers in science. STAR—AMT will expand and complement the existing NIH-sponsored STAR
training program led by PIs Drs. Daniel K. Benjamin Jr and Sarah Armstrong. The proposed program
represents a critical piece in a continuum of NIH-supported training at the Duke Clinical Research Institute
(DCRI) that runs the gamut from high school students to mid-career faculty. In short, the program will be
uniquely positioned within an established educational infrastructure with a track record of successful trainees.
The program will include three tracks: clinical pharmacology, epidemiology, and population health science. As
chair of the Pediatric Trials Network (PTN), Dr. Benjamin has broad oversight of the secondary analyses of
PTN data, ideally suited for a trainee's initial foray into research methods and computational analysis. In
addition, the DCRI offers formal educational and support programs for junior faculty, fellows, residents, and
students with funding from internal DCRI resources as well as the NIH.
The STAR—AMT program is a partnership of university-based research institutions organized into 4
regional Hubs: 1) Children's Mercy Hospital, 2) Duke University and the University of North Carolina, 3)
Montana State University (with its affiliation with the University of Washington WWAMI program), and 4) the
University of California San Diego. Participants will work with both DCRI and Hub senior faculty mentors to
develop an original, hypothesis-driven project. Trainees will assemble into teams in spring to conduct a
literature review, formulate and refine a research question, and draft an analysis plan of data previously
collected and curated by the PTN. In the summer, trainees will travel to Duke for in-person research training
and to analyze PTN data for their manuscript under the guidance of a DCRI Mentor. Junior faculty will receive
additional leadership training in order to serve as project team leaders. Trainees will work with their mentors
throughout the program to review their progress. In the subsequent 8-month period, trainees will return to their
home institution. They will receive joint mentorship from DCRI Mentors and regional Hub Mentors to complete
the research project and receive career development guidance. Finally, trainees will be tracked for 10 years
using a web-based database to assess the training program's impact on their future academic and professional
trajectories. The proposed program will result in an improved pipeline of future scientists whose practical
experience in pediatric clinical research will facilitate their entry into research careers.document fetched 2026-08-02 08:24