Affinity Groups

Affinity groups are meant to stimulate collaborative work and promote interactions between investigators with common research interests. They serve the objective of the CVC to be a campus incubator in order to stimulate, exchange and nurture new ideas and develop novel research programs in basic, translational, and clinical research. Affinity groups are small working groups functioning as extended lab meetings/journal clubs of labs working on interrelated problems. They present and test new ideas, critique results and develop research programs while discussing specific lab protocols in detail. The scientists involved do not have to be members of the CVC or the KDC, but they must be self-adhering and dedicated to achieving the objectives set by the group. The number of investigators is not critical, as long as it allows for the group to work effectively. These working groups can be seen as the nucleus as a Program Project Grant, but do not have to focus on getting a PPG. They should include a clinician scientist if possible and a senior, well funded scientist to help mentor the others when needed.

MCW investigators interested in attending meetings of one of these groups should contact the group organizer.