Mentorship in Clinical Complementary and Integrative Health Research

Because over 50% of adults in the United States take complementary and integrative health (CIH) natural products for their health, the training of CIH practitioners and scientists to produce high-quality clinical research is imperative to identifying effective products for the safety of the public. As such, this proposal requests a K24

mid-career development award to expand and support mentorship in clinical natural product research by Dr. Ryan Bradley, ND, MPH. Dr. Bradley has demonstrated effective mentorship by the publication of all past mentees, and the progression of multiple mentees from graduate students to formal NIH post-doctoral training

awards, and independent training awards. Dr. Bradley is currently a Program Director and mentor in the NCCIH- funded T90/R90 Building Research across Interdisciplinary Gaps (BRIDG) clinical research training program formed in partnership between the University of Washington (UW) and the National University of Natural

Medicine (NUNM). Dr. Bradley provides mentorship for 10 post-doctoral trainees, including CIH clinicians and PhD scientists. Dr. Bradley is a primary mentor for a T90 trainee who has progressed onto a KL2 award at the UW, a CIH practitioner who received a NICCH administrative supplement to gain research experience on Dr.

Bradley's R01-funded clinical trials, and a T32 post-doctoral trainee in the ORCCAMIND T32 program at Oregon Health & Sciences University (for which Dr. Bradley is a formal mentor). In addition to his positions as Director of Research, Senior Investigator and Associate Professor at the NUNM, he retains affiliate and adjunct

appointments at 3 US-based and 2 international universities, thus Dr. Bradley is extremely well connected to assist mentees in identifying resources and collaborators for their research. The Specific Aims of this proposal are for Dr. Bradley to: 1. Dedicate consistent effort in the mentorship of promising trainees in T32, T90, R90, and

KL2 programs in order to facilitate their progression in research training and independent research (Aim 1); 2. Refine and develop mentoring skills by pursuing additional training in: mentorship; diversity, equity and inclusion in research; and cutting-edge translational science methodologies (Aim 2); and 3. Provide exposure to

translational science methods and provide publication opportunities for mentees through the collection of additional preliminary data related to recent clinical trials of specialized pro-resolvin mediators (SPM) and xanthohumol natural products, including product quality assessment, measurement of relevant biomarkers in

stored biologic samples, and measurement of additional transcription factors (PCSK9) to extend the research to new clinical populations (Aim 3).