This is a competitive renewal application to continue training postdoctoral fellows in nephrology research. Our goal is to prepare fellows for a career in Academic Nephrology by training them to use state-of-the-art basic or clinical investigative tools and methods to interrogate important issues in renal physiology and pathophysiology. We will continue to rely on an interdisciplinary approach that involves 20 preceptors from the Renal Division and from the Departments of Immunology, Pediatrics, Physiology, Radiology, and Transplant Surgery, and from the Divisions of Digestive Diseases and Geriatrics. Training is offered in four focus areas: 1) renal tubular physiology; 2) metabolic consequences of renal dysfunction; 3) clinical, translational, and epidemiological research; and 4) transplantation and immunology. Each of the preceptors has an outstanding training record and research funding from the NIH and/or VA. By providing trainees with relevant formal and informal scientific courses and a variety of career development activities while simultaneously immersing them in specific research projects, this program will provide a solid foundation on which to build a career in Academic Medicine. Two categories of trainees will be chosen: 1) MDs or MD/PhDs from the adult/pediatric Renal Fellowship programs; and 2) PhD candidates. Over the past 10 years, there have been 16 trainees supported by this grant: 6 are full-time medical school faculty members engaged in basic or clinical research; 1 is a health scientist at the CDC; 6 continue to be engaged in full-time research training; 1 is teaching chemistry at a state university; and 2 have entered nephrology practice. Thus, 7 of the 10 trainees (70%) who completed all of their training during 2005-2015 entered academic medicine and are currently full-time faculty members at a medical school or at the CDC. Three of them have received research grants from the NIH or other sources of funding, a 4th has a pending grant application, and a 5th is a CDC scientist funded by intramural CDC funds. Three of the 6 trainees who are still engaged in research training have pending NIH K-grant applications. During the past 10 years, 9 women and 6 members of an under- represented minority group have received support from this T32. Fifteen of 16 trainees have published peer-reviewed papers. We have filled every available position every year since the start of this program in 1990. We seek funding to continue this successful training program.
The objective of our program is to train the next generation of renal investigators in order to advance our understanding of kidney function and dysfunction in patients. Our program provides trainees with a hands-on learning experience in the use of state-of-the-art basic or clinical investigative tools and methods to address important questions related to the physiology of the kidney and the pathophysiology and treatment of kidney diseases. The program capitalizes on existing interactions both among Renal Division faculty and with investigators in other Department of Medicine divisions and departments at Emory
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