ITM-UChicago

Researcher Education

To Be Prepared.

Essentials of Patient-Oriented Research EPOR

WHAT IS EPOR?
The Essentials of Patient-Oriented Research (EPOR) is a crash course in how to conduct clinical research. Get insider tips from senior researchers and learn how to create and run a successful study. Courses are free and open to everyone, ranging from trainees to nurses to researchers. EPOR is held each Fall (Introductory Topics to Clinical Research), Winter (Ethics of Clinical Research) and Spring (Statistical Methods in Clinical Research).

WINTER EPOR: ETHICS OF CLINICAL RESEARCH
The Winter EPOR course helps meet the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training requirement for trainees receiving National Institutes of Health (NIH) and/or National Science Foundation (NSF) funding. The Winter EPOR session gives you a front-row seat to the issues scientists can face and the best ways to handle them. Winter EPOR addresses everything from conflicts of interest to the ethical treatment of animals to intellectual property. All those who receive support from a NIH and/or NSF training grant are required to complete an 8-hour RCR course at the start of their training and again every four years.

LOGISTICS
Winter EPOR registration is now open! Classes will occur via Zoom and will run from January 9th through March 12th for a total of 10 weeks, Tuesday evenings 5:15PM-6:15PM. Winter session registration is due no later than January 22nd, the last date attendees can still be eligible for a certificate of completion. After you register, you will receive Zoom instructions via email.

*Please note that if you have taken Summer RCR or Winter EPOR within the past 4 years and received a certificate of completion, it is not necessary for you to retake this course at this time. If you did not attend the required 8 sessions to receive a certificate of completion, you are welcome to attend sessions that you have not previously attended within the past 4 years to fulfill this requirement for completion.
**Please note that due to updated guidance issued by the National Institute for Health (NIH), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), this online training does NOT completely fulfill the requirements for federally funded training or career development awards without additional in-person research training. This separate in-person research training can be fulfilled through the ITM or individuals can obtain their own in-person research training through department or discipline-specific activities at their respective institution.
***We request that you keep your web cameras on as much as possible as a professional courtesy to the speakers. However, we understand there will be times when your camera may need to be off. If you anticipate that your camera will need to remain off for the entire hour or all/most of the course, please contact us.

Click here to view the complete schedule.
Click here for registration.

For questions, please contact Les Cooke at lcooke@bsd.uchicago.edu or Snezana Pavlic at spavlic@bsd.uchicago.edu.

Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)

The Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) gives you a front-row seat to the issues scientists can face and the best ways to handle them. RCR addresses everything from conflicts of interest to the ethical treatment of animals to intellectual property.

All those who receive support from a National Institutes of Health (NIH) and/or National Science Foundation (NSF) training grant are required to complete an RCR at the start of their training and again every four years. This requires eight hours of in-person training, so please note that the CITI requirement for IRB submission does not count. This course will be taught via Zoom. Please note you must have access to a web camera and it must remain on during lectures for attendance purposes.

Summer RCR registration is now open!! The RCR course is free and open to everyone. Classes run from July 6th through August 10th for a total of 11 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday evenings 5:15-6:15PM. Registration is due no later than 5pm on July 17th, the last date attendees can still be eligible for a certificate of completion. Participants must attend 8 online, instructor-led classes in order to receive a certificate of completion.  After you register, you will receive Zoom instructions via email. If you can’t attend the summer session, RCR certificates are also available through the Winter Essentials of Patient-Oriented Research (EPOR) course.
*Please note that due to updated guidance issued by the National Institute for Health (NIH), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), this online training does NOT fulfill the requirements for federally funded training or career development awards without additional in-person research training. This separate in-person research training will be made available through the ITM or individuals can obtain their own in-person research training through discipline-specific activities.

Click here to view the complete 2023 schedule and speaker bios.
Click here for registration.

Questions? Contact Les Cooke at lcooke@bsd.uchicago.edu or Snezena Pavlic at spavlic@bsd.uchicago.edu.

Informatics Seminars

Take advantage of two free monthly seminars that are open to everyone and cover a variety of topics for every skill level: the Center for Research Informatics (CRI) Seminar Series, which provides training in informatics research tools and techniques, and the Computational Life Sciences Seminar Series, which highlights research in the fields of bioinformatics and computational life sciences, fosters collaborations, and provides a broad audience for feedback on current research. Learn more here.

Pathobiology of Disease Seminars

Enjoy a free lunch and learn from renowned local and international experts. These sessions are open to everyone and supported by the ITM and the University of Chicago Department of Pathology. View our calendar of upcoming sessions.

Advanced Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)

Advanced CBPR classes give you the roadmap and skills to involve community members in all stages of the research process, giving both academic researchers and the general public equal input in everything from study design to the best ways to recruit trial participants. This free, six-session course is held each Fall, Winter, and Spring quarter to put researchers at the forefront of community partnerships and transparent research.

This course is not currently being offered.

Questions? Contact Natalie Watson, the ITM’s Community Relations Program Manager, at nwatson@medicine.bsd.uchicago.edu.

Want to receive academic credit? Contact Absera Melaku at amelaku@bsd.uchicago.edu.

Translational Science Courses & Degrees
The ITM and The Center for Health and the Social Sciences created the Committee on Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS), an independent academic unit within the University of Chicago’s Biological Sciences Division (BSD), to offer dynamic, multidisciplinary courses for all ITM members across Chicagoland. Courses are open to undergraduates, graduate-level trainees, postdoctoral fellows, junior and senior faculty and staff, and fellow CTSA institutes at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).

Questions? Contact Absera Melaku at amelaku@bsd.uchicago.edu.

View current listings and register here.

Career Scholar Seminars
Career Scholar (K) Seminars are open to everyone at all six ITM institutions and offer you the chance learn about resources to accelerate your career and hear renowned researchers share how they got to be where they are today and ways they overcame obstacles. From science communications training to external funding sources to incorporating informatics into your work, K seminars will connect you with the skills and tools needed to jump-start your career. These monthly sessions are required for those recipients of the NIH Career (K) Development Awards administered by the ITM, but are open to anyone looking to advance their career.

Contact Sonya Redmond-Head, ITM Career Award Program Administrator, for requests to participate in-person or virtually.

Hear from K Scholars who built their science communications skills in this video!.

Questions? Contact Sonya Redmond-Head, ITM Career Award Program Administrator, at srhead@bsd.uchicago.edu.