This proposal is a renewal of the Harvard Newborn and Developmental Diseases Training Program and represents the continuation of a well-established program that was founded in 1974 and has been NIH- sponsored since 1994. The main objectives of this Program are (1) to provide rigorous training of neonatology post resident fellows to develop the knowledge and skills to become independent and productive physician- scientists in basic and clinical investigation as academic neonatologists and, (2) to provide postdoctoral PhD fellows with an introduction to development biology as applied to newborn and developmental diseases. To stimulate interest in academic neonatology at an earlier stage of career development, this Program also supports a short-term Summer Student Research Program (8 weeks) of predoctoral students paired with post- resident fellows. Strengths of the Program include benefits derived from the integration of extensive resources of four Harvard hospitals (Children's Hospital Boston, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Massachusetts General Hospital) and the best research mentors spanning the entire spectrum of biomedical research from basic developmental biology, translational medicine, clinical investigation, health policy outcomes research, including the economic evaluation of clinical trials and cost- effectiveness of health care delivery. The selection of trainees is competitively based on their potential for becoming independent investigators capable of assuming leadership roles in research and clinical medicine. Each trainee's research program will be developed on an individual basis with input and guidance from the Program Director, Fellowship Director, research mentor, and Scholarship Oversight Committee, closely monitoring review of fellows' progress. This NIH Training Program provides 2 and up to 3 years of support for each post-resident trainee (to begin following the first year of clinical training) nd 1-3 years of support for each postdoctoral scientist. The Program promotes the achievement of explicit training goals, using a structured set of expectations as well as formal advising and evaluation procedures. In addition to the mentored, hands-on research experience, trainees will learn directly about the nature of high quality scientific research by structured coursework in core concepts of cell and molecular biology, epidemiology, study design, and the theory and application of statistical techniques that are commonly used in clinical research. Overall, this Program provides interdisciplinary training in basic and clinical biological investigation, integrating state-of-the- art techniques and cutting-edge science with important questions in newborn medicine and biology. This approach has been proven to equip trainees with tools to advance and move independently into successful academic careers as investigators and leaders in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine.
The Training Program in Newborn and Developmental Diseases provides comprehensive research training for individuals with a serious commitment to a career in biomedical research focused on diseases of the newborn. Our primary goal is to train the next generation of physician scientists and scientists to become independent researchers in academic medicine in order to better understand the pathogenesis of diseases affecting infants and to implement novel therapeutic strategies.
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