PROJECT SUMMARY The number of physician-scientists and translational researchers working in lung cancer has not kept pace with the overall growth of the medical research community or with the growth in our basic knowledge base, resulting in an increasing number of unrealized basic and translational research opportunities. Yale is uniquely suited to helping rebuild this base with our strong commitment to basic and translational research. The Career Development Program (CDP) in the Yale SPORE in Lung Cancer (YSILC) has been designed to contribute substantively to ongoing efforts and new initiatives attempting to address this problem. Our translational research office at Yale (led by Dr. Herbst) has been committed to providing early seed funding and translational support to young investigators early in their research careers. The goal of the CDP is to educate a new generation of investigators committed to translational research in lung cancer. The CDP has substantial institutional commitment, both in terms of funding and infrastructure. Potential CDP candidates include promising junior faculty who are interested in establishing their career in translational lung cancer research or established investigators whose previous research has been in other areas. Junior faculty awardees will be paired with more established investigators in lung cancer research with a documented record of successful mentoring. In this way, the YSILC will stimulate the development of the next generation of physician scientists and translational researchers, addressing the most challenging issues in lung cancer research.

PROGRAM NARRATIVE The Yale SPORE in Lung Cancer’s Career Development Program is a key program to foster the development of the next generation of physician-scientists in the area of human thoracic malignancies to faciliate diagnosis, prevention, and therapy of lung cancer.