AAMC forms new task force on clinical research
Responding to concerns that young physicians are becoming reluctant to enter, and are having difficulty sustaining, clinical research careers, the Association of American Medical Colleges has convened a new Task Force on Clinical Research to help its member institutions better deal with the challenges they face in their efforts to recruit and retain clinical researchers. The task force will attempt to identify new models of clinical research organization, infrastructure and funding that will result in more nurturing environments for research and training that will strengthen clinical research programs in medical schools and teaching hospitals. Steven G. Gabbe, M.D., dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, has been appointed to chair the group, and Dennis C. Brimhall, president and chief executive officer of University of Colorado Hospitals, will co-chair. The task force will hold its first meeting in early 2005. For more information, contact Stephen Heinig, of the AAMC Division of Biomedical and Health Sciences Research, at sheinig@aamc.org or (202) 828-0488.

AAMC Annual Meeting begins this week
The AAMC's 115th Annual Meeting, "Fulfilling the Promise," will be held Nov. 5 through 10, in Boston. The keynote address will be delivered by Pulitzer-Prize winning columnist Ellen Goodman. Other featured speakers include: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Julie Gerberding, M.D., M.P.H., who will discuss the role of protecting the public's health in a small and transforming world; and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson, who will debate the effects of the 2004 elections. For the first time, continuing medical education credits will be offered to meeting participants through a self-directed program jointly sponsored by AAMC and the Harvard Medical School Department of Continuing Education. For more information, please visit http://www.aamc.org/annualmeeting.

NIH awards 1,400 student loan repayment contracts
The National Institutes of Health have awarded student loan repayment contracts to more than 1,400 health researchers. The new contracts total nearly $68 million, averaging $48,300 each. More than half of the awards were given to researchers who completed their doctoral degrees within the past five years. More than 40 percent of all awardees hold M.D. degrees, 34 percent hold Ph.D. degrees, 9 percent hold dual M.D./Ph.D. degrees, and 7 percent hold other doctoral degrees. Loan repayment is competitively awarded to health professionals who commit to careers in research. Loan repayment applications for the next contract cycle are currently being accepted and must be submitted by Dec. 15. For more information, please visit http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/oct2004/od-25a.htm.