The training program proposed offers 2-3 year fellowships that prepare physicians and post-doctoral scientists for scientific careers in the area of obesity. The program provides a structured but flexible research experience with an emphasis on fostering the early growth of an independent and creative research program. Trainees are incorporated into the investigative programs of the Clinical Nutrition Research Unit at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Trainees may elect to work with a single faculty member or to be jointly mentored by more than one faculty and spend some time in more than one lab. The faculty's multidisciplinary nature (physicians, psychologists, statisticians, physiologists, geneticists, epidemiologists, nutritionists, etc) allows a multidisciplinary approach on the part of the trainees. Strong collaborative ties already existing among the faculty make this multidisciplinary approach possible. Trainees have available techniques in cell culture, statistical methodology, molecular genetics, body composition, calorimetry, metabolic balance, nutritional assessment, stable isotope methodology, hormone and metabolite assays, hormone receptor biochemistry, ingestive behavior, animal models of obesity, and many more. Trainees will be physicians or recent Ph.D. (or equivalent) recipients in disciplines including (but not limited to) genetics, biochemistry, nutrition, psychology, physiology, statistics, epidemiology, neuroendocrinology, neuroscience or pharmacology. Individuals are selected based on demonstrated competence in graduate school, recommendations of their previous faculty, and consideration of the degree to which their interests fit with those of the faculty and with ongoing research programs. All trainees must have as a future plan an investigative and teaching career in the area of obesity, metabolic syndrome, energy metabolism, or appetitive behavior. Each of the cooperating laboratories is well equipped and funded to support the trainee's research and scholarly development. The program is intended to develop independent investigative skills and a rigorous approach to investigation through regular research and didactic seminars. A broad array of courses is available to trainees at UAB. Regular reviews of individual trainees will be completed by the training program directors to insure that adequate progress toward the development of an independent research career is made. Funding is requested for four post-doctoral trainee slots.
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