The Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center (VDRTC), in its 38th continuous year of operation as a NIH-sponsored Diabetes Center, seeks to continue its efforts to facilitate the discovery, application, and translation of scientifc knowledge to improve the care of patients with diabetes. The VDRTC is an interdisciplinary program involving 126 participating faculty distributed among 15 departments in two schools and four colleges at Vanderbilt and neighboring Mehary Medical College. The VDRTC consists of: 1) Administrative Component that coordinates the scientific, organizational, and outreach activities; 2) Biomedical Research Component that recruits and selects VDRTC-affiliated investigators and supervises the research cores that facilitate and enhance their research; 3) Pilot and Feasibility Program that facilitates the development of new investigators into independent scientists and encourages scientists in other fields to enter the field of diabetes research; and 4) Enrichment, Training, and Outreach Program that fosters an environment conducive to collaborative, interdisciplinary research (seminar series. Diabetes Day), and to training new diabetes scientists (VDRTC oversees three NIDDK-funded diabetes-related training programs). NIH support for the VDRTC is greatly amplified by: 1) Vanderbilt's sustained commitment to provide research space and additional financial resources; 2) a diverse, comprehensive array of research core services at Vanderbilt, which allows NIH funds to target unique, diabetes-related research cores; and 3) collaborative efforts with other NIH-funded research centers at Vanderbilt. The VDRTC is evolving and dynamic, including additions to its investigator base, expansion of VDRTC research areas, expanded focus on clinical and translational research, realignment and evolution of core support to provide unique, indispensable core services, and service as a regional and national resource for the diabetes research community. Because of the VDRTC and the environment it creates, VDRTC-affiliated investigators have made important scientific contributions related to diabetes, obesity, and metabolism.
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