The Brigham and Women's Hospital Nephrology training program, funded for 32 consecutive years, seeks to continue to provide scientifically rigorous, multidisciplinary research training in academic nephrology to postdoctoral fellows who have previously earned M.D. and/or Ph.D. degrees. Individuals accepted into the training program dedicate three or more years to research activities in bench science, clinical nephrology research studies, and/or translational investigation. The program is enriched with regularly scheduled lectures and seminars as well as local, regional, and national courses. Participants have the opportunity to enroll in formal postgraduate course work at multiple schools of Harvard University. The training program's most important attribute is the intensive research training for several years under the mentorship of experienced and committed investigators who have extensive track records of securing independent funding from the NIH and other sources. Emphasis is placed on integration of basic and applied nephrology. Basic research opportunities in physiology and clinically relevant areas include (but are not limited to) physiological, cellular and molecular basis of solute and fluid exchange, physiology and pharmacology of vasoactive hormones, human and mouse genetics, bioengineering, nanotechnology, tissue engineering, regenerative biology, and immunological mechanisms in kidney diseases. In addition, there is a large program in clinical and translational transplantation biology. Clinical research opportunities include epidemiological and patient-oriented investigations in chronic kidney disease, hypertension, mineral metabolism, the cardiorenal syndromes, dialysis, and genetics as well as urinary biomarkers in acute and chronic kidney disease, and randomized clinical trials. Our 35 research mentors are outstanding faculty at Harvard and/or MIT, representing many disciplines and departments. Since our last T32 renewal, the program has strengthened the evaluation and feedback provided to fellows as well as our career mentoring, and expanded our scope of opportunities in basic and clinical/translational research, education and mentorship. A review of our Brigham Renal Division research trainees who have received T32 support as well as those with other research funds over the past 10 years revealed remarkable publication productivity and success in obtaining grant funding with the majority (75%) of trainees supported by this grant continuing in academic nephrology or in other leadership roles in research. We look forward to continuing our tradition of excellence in training leaders in nephrology by continuing to critically assess and improve the fellowship experience and provide outstanding research and mentoring opportunities to the next generation of nephrology investigators.
The primary mission of the Brigham and Women's Hospital nephrology research training program is to nurture the development of the future leaders in academic nephrology during their early, formative stages. This is accomplished by providing our fellowship trainees with rigorous post-doctoral experience and unparalleled resources for cutting-edge basic science, clinical, and translational investigation over three years of mentored research training. Moreover, the program leadership and faculty mentors promote the growth of our fellows through thoughtful mentorship, high quality scientific seminars and programs, frequent opportunities for research trainee presentation and constructive feedback, and an overall focus on facilitation of research progress and career development.
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