Telehealth Research & Innovation for Veterans with Cancer Scholars Program

An aim of the Telehealth Research and Innovation for Veterans with Cancer (THRIVE) Center is to foster and build a learning network of the next generation of telehealth cancer researchers. In this mission, the center seeks early-career investigators who are focused on conducting telehealth research and committed to building a growing research community for our Scholars Program.

Program Eligibility

The THRIVE Scholars Program is established for early career investigators who have completed doctoral level training and have yet to obtain independent funding through major grants such as CDA, R01, K, or equivalent awards. Investigators focused on achieving such award funding in the next one to two years will be prioritized as this is considered a critical moment of research career development. THRIVE Scholar funds are provided by the VA Office of Health Equity. In order to receive award funding from OHE, investigators must be affiliated with the VA OR be affiliated with an existing VA academic partner AND have a VA affiliated mentor with funded VA-based research.

The Scholars Program will accept two early career investigators per yearly cycle who are focused on telehealth cancer research.

Program Award

Participants in the Scholars Program are awarded a one-time fund of $25,000. The funds are available to support telehealth cancer care research, including research support, conference travel, and other project-related expenses. Funds must be used within the fiscal year they are awarded. The applicants’ identified mentor; program directors Thomas Rodgers, MD, and Mark D. Schwartz, MD; and additional program mentorship can assist in determining constructive ways to spend award funds to achieve the participant’s goal or project and to ensure timely use of funds.

Program Application Timeline

The application window for the program opens each spring, and awardees are typically selected in June.

Program Expectations

The Scholars Program provides funds to assist early career investigators pursuing research in the application of telehealth in cancer care. It is expected that participants will use funds to conduct research, quality improvement, or evaluation projects guided by their mentor. An IRB approval, if needed, should be pursued in the first 3 months of program so that project can be initiated by 6 months; for QI/evaluation projects, THRIVE may facilitate non-research designation letters. Additional mentorship can be provided/identified by the program directors.

Participants are also expected to participate in a robust curriculum outlined below, as well as serve in an alumni network to foster future investigators. Feedback at multiple junctures will be requested to ensure that the program meets its primary aims. While there is not a specific research outcome required by the end of the program, it is expected that participants will be able to demonstrate growth of their project through possible publications, abstracts, or presentations.

Program Mentorship

Mentorship is a core element of the Scholars Program, and each trainee is mentored at multiple levels: primary research mentor, program advisor, meta-mentoring, and peer and near-peer mentoring.

Primary Research Mentors

The applicant identifies a primary research mentor with a VA affiliation and ideally at or near their home institution. The program directors discuss with each mentee and mentor the roles and responsibilities of each in advancing the trainee’s career. In regular meetings (at least monthly), the trainee and primary mentor will plan the design and troubleshoot the progress, analysis, and preparation for publication of the proposed research.

Program Advisor

Each trainee is also assigned a THRIVE faculty member as a program advisor. Advisors meet monthly with their assigned trainees to orient them to the program, facilitate meetings with potential collaborators, and provide complementary coaching in their mentored research, education, and career-crafting plans. Program advisors are liaisons among the trainee, primary mentor, and program directors, often identifying and helping to troubleshoot issues as they arise.

Meta-Mentoring

Trainees meet virtually each semester with the THRIVE Scholars Program directors, faculty advisor, and primary research mentor for formal meta-mentoring. The goals of these meetings are to review progress on the trainee’s Individualized Development Plan (IDP) and research, address any potential challenges or impediments, and discuss the trainee’s plans for work and career after the program. Before these meetings, trainees share their IDP, CV, and strategies to pursue plans after the program.

Peer and Near-Peer Mentoring

Trainees support one another during the monthly webinars and in their relationships. These key skills and support are intentionally facilitated by the program directors by modeling and fostering substantive, constructive feedback during Research-in-Progress discussions. Once trainees complete the program, they enter our alumni network and will pair with new trainees to provide near-peer mentoring and support.

Program Curriculum

We offer a robust curriculum to all participants, organized into monthly webinars. These are 45-60 minute sessions for several activities facilitated by Dr. Rodgers, Dr. Schwartz, and THRIVE faculty.

Learn more about the webinar activities and see a sample schedule.

Independent Mentored Research

Crafting a compelling and worthwhile research project is a core objective of each trainee’s program. Study choice and development begin in the application process and are refined during the first weeks to months of the program. Trainees are encouraged to shape their own research interests to leverage collaborative opportunities with ongoing research. As trainees design their research plans, they are urged to consider three core translational “tests” with their mentor to assist them in framing their research question and refining their scientific premise:

The “So What?” test: What changes will plausibly occur if the study results are as hoped for? What if they are not?
The “Reinventing the Wheel” test: Has a similar study been undertaken in the past? Did it change practice or advance knowledge? If so, what will be the additional contribution of the present study? If not, what features of the design of the present study will cause it to advance practice when previous studies did not?
The Implementation/Dissemination test: To what extent does the study design optimize the likelihood that broad-scale implementation would occur? Have potential barriers to implementation and adoption in other settings been considered in designing the study?

While projects are not expected to be completed in the program timeframe, trainees make final presentations of their research to THRIVE program faculty in August. Each trainee has 15 minutes to present and remaining time in the session will be used for discussion and feedback. THRIVE will also arrange for trainees to have the opportunity to present their projects to key shareholders (e.g., VA Office of Health Equity, National Oncology Office) upon completion.

Program Faculty

The faculty comprises the THRIVE investigative team, which includes members from NYU Grossman School of Medicine and other institutions. Faculty members are matched to successful applicants as program advisors, facilitate select webinar sessions, and participate in feedback panels during Research in Progress sessions.

Mark D. Schwartz, MD Program Director

Thomas Rodgers, MD Program Director

Daniel J. Becker, MD.

Charles Cleland, PhD

Paula Cupertino, PhD

Daphne Friedman, MD

Heather T. Gold, PhD, MPP

Michael Kelley, MD

Danil V. Makarov, MD

Glen Morgan, PhD

Olugbenga G. Ogedegbe, MD, MPH

Vida Passero, MD, MBA