Rare Disease Clinical Research Training Program

The Rare Disease Clinical Research Training Program is a free, one-year virtual program designed to equip and serve early career clinical researchers. The overall goals are to attract and retain new investigators in the field of rare disease. The program is funded by the National Institutes of Health under a Rare Diseases Research R25 Curriculum Grant led by Debra Regier, MD, PhD, and Mark L. Batshaw, PhD, of Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC.

The program offers:

• Networking in the global rare disease research community (network development, multi-sites, multi-disciplinary, patient advocacy groups)
• Research success (scientific writing, publication numbers, grant obtaining and retention)
• Exposure to patient and family groups (cohort, funding, support, reputation)
• Increasing diversity in rare disease patient participation and in the rare disease workforce
• Working with small populations (recruitment, small “n” statistics)

The year-long hybrid program features virtual and in-person experiences. The program is open to individuals working as clinical research assistants/associates/coordinators, fellows in their final year of training, postdoctoral fellows, and early career faculty.

Contact Dr. Debra Regier, course director at dregier@childrensnational.org or Tiffany Swaringer, course coordinator at tswaringer@childrensnational.org.