As we usher in another new era of expansive basic science capabilities and need for translational exploration, there are extraordinary opportunities for development of careers in pediatric research. The proposed program will take advantage of the growing research excellence at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (now in the top ten medical schools in the US in NIH funding), the even more recent expansion of academic programs in the Department of Pediatrics and Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and the long history of superb clinical training programs at CHP. CHP is the only children's hospital in Western Pennsylvania and the only pediatric subspecialty practice in the region. In addition to over 15,000 admissions, it is the site of over 55,000 emergency room visits and over 200,000 ambulatory visits. Over the past 3+ years 12 new division chiefs and more than 90 new faculty members have been recruited to the Department of Pediatrics/CHP and the NIH research funding base of CHP has grown from $7.0 to $20.5 million per year. The pediatric residency programs have grown to 93 slots and the pediatric subspecialty fellows has expanded to 67 slots per year. CHP is now in the midst of construction of a new 1.1 million square foot hospital and 230,000 square foot research building. The program is designed to train junior pediatric physicians in basic science so that they develop careers in molecular and cellular biology as it applies to the pathogenesis of childhood diseases. The goal is for these trainees to establish independent NIH-funded research laboratories and to become the next generation of academic leaders in pediatrics. The program faculty/mentors include 27 members of the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine including 14 NIH-funded investigators from the Department of Pediatrics/CHP. Core facilities for state-of-the-art FACS analysis/sorting and imaging (confocal, deconvolutional, live cell and electron microscopic imaging) have been established to support the Scholars. The program will be overseen by an Internal Advisory Board that includes key members of the faculty/mentor roster as well as the Dean of the School of Medicine and by an External Advisory Board of three internationally recognized pediatric scientist leaders (Drs. Harvey Colten, Arnie Strauss and Stuart Orkin). Scholars will be selected from the expanded residency/fellowship training programs at CHP as well as those attracted to CHP from other institutions because of the extensive intellectual and financial support now available at CHP. Four Scholars will be funded each year for a period of 1 -4 years with at least 75% protected time to work in the laboratory of one of the faculty mentors. These Scholars will be expected to establish Mentor Committees of four senior faculty scientists to advise and facilitate the development of their career.
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