UCLA CTSI Research Associates Program (CTSI-RAP): An Overview

The UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Research Associates Program (CTSI-RAP) offers undergraduate students a unique opportunity to delve into the world of hospital-based medicine and clinical research within an academic medical center. This program provides a stronger support infrastructure for the research initiatives of UCLA faculty physicians and investigators. By signing up for an independent study undergraduate course (SRP 199), students gain invaluable experience and contribute to groundbreaking research.

Program Objectives and Goals

The CTSI-RAP is a professional development program that provides undergraduate students with clinical research exposure and training. The UCLA CTSI training programs have been optimized by clinical research experts since 2013. They inculcate an interest in clinical and translational research careers. The acquisition of new skillsets and early exposure to potential career opportunities often influence lifetime decision-making.

Students support UCLA research faculty by assisting with all aspects of the research process, including recruiting participants, data management, and presentations.

Program Structure and Key Activities

CTSI-RAP pairs UCLA undergraduate students with clinical research studies of their interest conducted by UCLA faculty. The students are excited and motivated to be members of study teams where they excel on their projects, gain valuable mentorship, and launch their careers in the health professions, often combining these careers with clinical research, data analysis, laboratory work, public health, and related fields. Research associates play a key role in the implementation and integrity of research protocols in which they are involved.

Core Responsibilities of Research Associates:

Conducting clinical research studies.
Collecting and maintaining securitized data.
Assisting in the authorship of research protocols.
Aiding in statistical analyses.
Co-authoring abstracts, posters, and papers.

Additional Opportunities:

RAP students are also given the opportunity to make rounds with the medical team, observe common procedures, and experience didactic teaching sessions during the course of their research days. Student research associates are trained to conduct clinical research studies, collect and maintain securitized data, assist in the authorship of research protocols, aid in statistical analyses, and co-author abstracts, posters, and papers. In addition to the research, the CTSI RAP students are exposed to experiences meant to educate and prepare them for a career in healthcare. As a result, research associates become comfortable with the workings of a hospital and gain skills in professionalism, patient communication, and research methodology. The unique blend of first-hand clinical experience and scientific research gives alumni a unique advantage in public healthcare.

CTSI-RAP offers its students many benefits, ranging from: clinical research experience, hospital volunteer hours, providing and receiving mentorship and career guidance, patient contact, shadowing/rounding with medical teams, observing procedures, leadership opportunities, interaction with healthcare specialists, professional networking, and abstracts/posters/publications.

Specific Research Projects and Opportunities

The program offers a diverse array of research projects, spanning various medical specialties. Here are some examples of projects CTSI-RAP students can participate in:

Neural Biomarker Profiling in Cardiomyopathy Patients Referred for Electrophysiology Study: This study involves learning about cardiac conditions and neural biomarkers, participating in the consenting process, collecting blood samples during ablation procedures, and attending research conferences.
Integrated Network for Breakthrough Discoveries for Thriving With Bipolar Disorder (BD^2): Responsibilities include phone screening of potential subjects, preparing recruitment materials, scheduling participants for in-person clinical visits, administration of structured interview and assessment materials, preparation and download of wearable data collection devices, assisting as a Second Safety for MRI scans, assisting project coordinator with remote and in-person patient evaluations (ie: cognitive assessments), data entry and cleaning, accompanying participants from one campus location to another, transporting blood specimens from one campus location to another.
Pediatric Neonatology - Nutrition and Infant Development: This project involves collecting nutritional and demographic data from the EMR, entering and organizing data into a secure database, attending lab meetings, preparing specimen collection kits, assisting with data analysis, and specimen collections.
Imaging of intraocular inflammation & Study of ocular disease using hyper parallel OCT: These ophthalmology-focused projects involve collecting clinical research information, observing procedures, transferring imaging data, and assisting with the creation of REDCap databases.
Experimental Models of Depression and Aging: anxiety, inflammation, and reward mechanisms: This study includes assisting with patient screening and recruitment, administering behavioral tests and questionnaires, assisting in fMRI scans, participating in journal club meetings, and data analysis.
Alzheimer’s-related inflammation and immunoregulatory deficiency: Student will abstract relevant information from medical* and dental records of research participants, and input this into our database. This activity will be performed in Dr. Fox’s lab on desktop computers provided. When the team is recruiting in person, students can help research assistants set up our study outreach table. As study data is collected, support could be provided in: Study data management and cleaning Qualitative data coding and analysis of implementation science focused stakeholder discussions of the study and its activities from meeting notes with clinic stakeholders and new potential clinic partner meetings. Students might also participate in training and eventually delivery of the telehealth coaching intervention focused on substance use and co-occurring quality of life factors using elements of motivational interviewing and cognitive behavior therapy
Adolescents Trails Network and ATN-CARES & mHealth for Heart Failure: Predictive Models of Readmission Risk and Self-care Using Consumer Activity Trackers- R01: CTSI-RAP students, each week, go through the transcribed interviews and conduct a qualitative analysis on the topic of interest, such as strengths with mental health, in the qualitative research software, Deduce. They read the file, highlight excerpts, and code them to the respective parent, child, and grandchild code that they see fit.
Pediatrics Rare Diseases - Clinical Trial of Leniolisib in APDS for Children: Attend CTRC visits, Data Entry, Regulatory documents
Ophthalmology - Limbal Stem Cell Studies: Data collection and management:• Abstract relevant information from medical records of research participants and input it intospreadsheets to be reviewed by senior study staff• Transfer and organization of imaging data (In-vivo confocal microscopy and AS-OCT scans)· Research activities:• Guide participants to treatment/evaluation/imaging area• Verify specimen collection and delivery to lab• Observation of clinic, imaging, and treatment procedures• Assist research coordinator with study visits per protocol•Opportunities are available to formulate and answer research questions with appropriate mentorship
Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative : Assist research coordinator with study visits per protocol.Assist with Initiating and maintaining partnerships in the community with underrepresented communities In research to raise awareness and improve access to clinical research studies at e UCLA Easton Center. Assist with recruitment, enrollment of eligible community members, manage and coordinate research participant activities, perform evaluations including cognitive testing, and implement retention strategies. Must comp y with Federal Regulations, Good Clinical Practice (GCP), and University and Clinical Partner policies as it relates to assigned research protocols.Assist with communicating with UCLA IRB, sponsoring agencies, principal investigator(s), other service providers, participants, families, and research team members.Assist with timely and accurate data entry and regulatory (IRB) publication (does not include the actual IRB submission); engage with providers and investigators to ensure adequate source documentation is available; assist with maintenance of participant research charts.Assist with other supportive activities (e.g., administrative assistance with moving documents for record retention, optimizing workspace for current studies.)
Characterizing the Microbiome-Gut-Brain Axis in Individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder: Phone screening potential participants, Scheduling participant visits, Running behavioral screening visits, Collecting clinical research data from participants, Participating in MRI data collection (acting as safety second), Assisting with literature searches Potential for writing abstracts and posters
Targeted Upstream Prevention (T-UP) Diabetes Prevention: Participation in the collection of clinical research information (both qualitative and quantitative), observation of procedures, some basic data analysis, write up of abstracts, posters or paper, including literature searches, assisting with outreach materials
Impact of Pandemic on the Lives and Livelihoods of Families in West Bengal, India: Literature reviews, Draft manuscript sections for qualitative and quantitative papers, Draft abstracts using qualitative and quantitative data, Draft posters for qualitative and quantitative analyses, Qualitative data analysis (coding using Dedoose software), Quantitative data analysis support
Pediatric ASXL and Biobank Studies: Participation in the consenting process, Collection of clinical research information, Parent interview, Enter data into database, Data Analysis, Helping coordinate study visits
Brown Adipose Tissue Activity in Response to Semaglutide Administered to Obese Subjects:
Pediatric Sarcoma Liquid Biopsy Program - Coordination and Expansion of Liquid Biopsy Sample Collection Workflows for Pediatric Sarcoma Patients: Student volunteers will have the following responsibilities: i) Coordinate the collection and consenting process for liquid biopsy samples in the inpatient and outpatient setting. ii) Assist with the annotation of samples used for validation of liquid biopsy technologies at CNSI by chart and imaging review.

Time Commitment

The program requires a weekly commitment of 9 hours, consisting of a 1-hour mandatory meeting and 8 hours of volunteering on research studies. While there is some flexibility during exams and university breaks, consistency is expected.

The weekly 1-hour meeting is typically scheduled in the early evening on Mondays. Most research is conducted Monday through Friday 7am-7pm. However, there are opportunities for research activities outside these hours in the evenings and/or on weekends. If you are unable to commit to these requirements, you will not be able to fulfill the needs of our investigators who depend upon us for assistance with their studies.

Eligibility and Admission

The program is open to UCLA undergraduate students. Unfortunately, freshmen and senior students are not eligible to apply. Since most students remain in the program past the one-year commitment to continue their research involvement, only 2nd and 3rd years students are eligible to apply.

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The admission process is holistic, involving an application, resume submission, and interviews. The program seeks students of all backgrounds who are interested in clinical research, healthcare, and medicine. We encourage students of all backgrounds and experience interested in clinical research, healthcare and medicine to apply. We review and evaluate all applications and interviews very carefully to determine those students best suited to participate in the program and benefit from its mission and goals. Even if you are unsure, we still encourage you to apply.

Course Credit

Students may have the opportunity to pursue SRP 99/199 credit for their research after completing 6 months of volunteering, depending on the study.

Benefits of Participation

CTSI-RAP offers a multitude of benefits, providing students with:

Clinical research experience.
Hospital volunteer hours.
Mentorship and career guidance.
Patient contact.
Shadowing opportunities with medical teams.
Opportunities to observe medical procedures.
Leadership development.
Interaction with healthcare specialists.
Professional networking.
Opportunities to co-author abstracts, posters, and publications.

Success Stories and Alumni Impact

The program has a proven track record of success, with a significant percentage of students going on to attend medical school, health-related graduate programs, or securing health-related employment. 90% of students go on to attend medical school, health-related graduate school, or other health-related employment. Several students continue working in clinical research through gap-year employment. As demonstrated by the high caliber of student and faculty experiences, CTSI-RAP has created an esteemed and valued symbiotic infrastructure to support clinical research endeavors at UCLA.

Elizabeth Tran, a former CTSI-RAP student, exemplifies the program's impact. She volunteered on a number of studies. After graduating, she transitioned to a full-time position as a clinical research coordinator on Dr. Leonard Marks’ team, conducting clinical research studies in prostate cancer for three years. These included interventional studies and a cancer imaging project where she served on a multi-disciplinary team evaluating prostate MRI/ultrasound fusion biopsy. While in CTSI-RAP, Elizabeth participated in a number of studies that tested her skills as researcher and a patient confidant. She volunteered with Dr. Holly Middlekauff, a physician scientist, who mentored Elizabeth by providing opportunities to take on increased responsibilities based upon prior success and future growth. These studies assessed the effect of e-cigarettes on cardiovascular disease. She served as the Study Liaison which allowed her to assist in protocol development and experimental design, screen patients, document and collect data, conduct procedures, and participate in team meetings. Elizabeth played an integral role in contributing to poster abstracts and peer-reviewed research publications.

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Elizabeth's experience highlights the value of mentorship, hands-on research experience, and the development of crucial skills that CTSI-RAP provides.

Events and Learning Opportunities

The program hosts various events to enhance the learning experience and provide networking opportunities:

Innovation in Care Conference (ICC): An annual conference featuring guest panelists and a student hackathon focused on improving healthcare.
MATCH (Mentorship and Advocacy in Teaching Clinical Health-Related Research): A mentorship program pairing CTSI-RAP students with high school students interested in healthcare.
Research Symposium: An in-person event where students share their research projects with fellow RAP members, investigators, and research faculty.

Research and Publication Opportunities

RAP students are encouraged to present their research at conferences and contribute to publications. CTSI-RAP members attend and present at UCLA’s Undergraduate Research Week (URW). In addition to URW, 2022 featured attendance to 2 national conferences by RAP members: Society of General Internal Medicine in Lake Buena Vista, Florida and Academy Health Research Conference in Washington DC. Research within RAP also expands beyond conferences as the program encourages students to involve themselves in the manuscript writing process and publications.

Program Impact and Significance

Through clinical research career exploration and professional skill-building in undergraduate careers, the CTSI-RAP program produces highly-trained future leaders in the field and benefits the capacity of UCLA research. The UCLA CTSI has supported these highly successful workforce development pipeline programs, which have had a demonstrated impact on students and the overall institutional clinical research infrastructure. Their stellar reputations generate high interest at UCLA and serve as model programs for implementation at other academic medical centers.

The CTSI Research Associates Program (CTSI-RAP) has been serving UCLA Health for over a decade with undergraduate students volunteering in a number of clinical research areas for UCLA faculty and their study teams.

The CTSI-RAP program received excellent reviews from both students and their assigned study teams. 100% of students and faculty would recommend the program to a friend or colleague. 30% of students present or publish annually, indicating a wealth of meaningful contributions made by students.

Application and Contact Information

Interested students are encouraged to apply to the CTSI-RAP program. The application process is competitive, with a less than 10% acceptance rate. If you are still interested in RAP, we always encourage reapplying next year if you remain eligible for the program.

All applicants will be notified of their application status at the end of each round.

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