The UCLA Intercampus Medical Genetics Postdoctoral Training Program is a university-wide training program which uses the faculty and facilities of three UCLA medical campuses: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and the Center for Health Sciences (UCLA). The fellowship training program is directed toward the training of postdoctoral MD, PhD, and DDS candidates who are highly motivated toward academic research careers in the field of medical genetics. The basic aim of the training program is to train individuals with a broad knowledge in medical genetics and an intensive experience in genetic research so they may enter the academic community as independent investigators. The program brings together the many faculty members interested in medical genetics from the School of Medicine's basic science departments, the University's Molecular Biology Institute, and the Medical Genetics units of the three UCLA hospitals. The trainees supported by this postdoctoral training program are given a broad experience in medical genetics and intensive research training in molecular, mathematical and/or medical genetics. They attend educational seminars with trainees in clinical genetics supported by hospital funds, as well as with other basic science postdoctoral research fellows who are mentored by the faculty of this training program. The funding of this NIH training program has led to a 3-hour weekly educational program, held throughout the academic year, a Research retreat, and visiting professor programs, which bring together postdoctoral trainees of many diverse backgrounds. Students from this research training program interact with trainees from many basic science departments and the Molecular Biology Institute who are doing pure basic research training, as well as clinical trainees from the individual hospital programs in medical genetics. It has also brought together faculty from basic science and clinical departments, resulting in a joint awareness of their interests and expertise that has led to many new collaborative studies. The trainees may obtain their research training with mentors in either the basic science departments or in clinical departments. If they choose research training by faculty in clinical departments, they will be expected to perform a hypothesis-driven research project under the guidance of that individual faculty member, or at times, in collaboration with a member of one of the basic science departments. This program has attracted many MD and PhD postdoctoral trainees over the past 20 years who have gone on to productive academic research careers.
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