NIH Awards Department of Surgery R25 Training Grant for Biodevice Innovation

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) has awarded the UCSF Department of Surgery a five-year interdisciplinary R25 research education grant for its Biodevice Innovation Training Program. The grant will fund up to two surgical residents each year with an interest in pursuing translational medicine, medical device development, and entrepreneurship during their dedicated research years. The Biodevice Innovation Training Program is led by Professors Hanmin Lee, MD, and Shuvo Roy, PhD, who are also co-directors of the Surgical Innovations Program. Research mentors for the program are drawn from numerous UCSF departments including Surgery, Radiology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Neurological Surgery, Urology, and Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences.

The specific aims of the Biodevice Innovation Training Program are:

• To prepare surgery residents to succeed as academic surgeon-scientists active in biomedical device innovation
• To sustainably integrate the program into the seven-year surgery residency in order to nurture research interest early and sustain it through career independence
• To prioritize the participation of underrepresented minorities, women, and participants from disadvantaged backgrounds to enhance the diversity of highly trained surgeon-innovators in the national biomedical workforce

Ecosystem of Device Innovation

The Biodevice Innovation Training Program is an extension of the Innovation Pathway, one of five Department of Surgery research pathways surgical residents choose for their focus during their research years. This program adds to the growing ecosystem of device innovation at UCSF, which also includes the Pediatric Device Consortium and Surgical Innovations Program.

Multifaceted Training

The R25’s project-based training is supplemented by didactic coursework, active engagement in UCSF’s innovation community, and career and research mentorship. A hallmark of the program is the interdisciplinary teamwork and synergy between Master of Translational Medicine (MTM) students and bioengineering doctoral trainees, with their product development and engineering skills complementing the clinical knowledge and surgical expertise of the residents.