NIH has identified the need for additional research in various areas of lung pathobiology, including pulmonary hypertension, acute lung injury and the contribution of endothelial cell heterogeneity to these diseases. These clinical problems are multifactorial, suggesting that the development of more in-depth understanding of the underlying mechanisms will require a workforce of investigators with new interdisciplinary approaches. However, the number of NIH-funded institutional predoctoral training programs that specifically seeks to supply pulmonary fellowship and postdoctoral training programs with highly qualified doctoral students is relatively few, particularly in the 6-state Southeast Region. Our application addresses this void by providing a state-of-the-art academic program in the region for predoctoral students planning a career in cell signaling and lung biology. The infrastructure for this training program is provided by the Center for Lung Biology at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, an interdisciplinary core curriculum in Basic Medical Sciences Ph.D. program, and a well-funded and nationally-recognized training faculty who bring a breadth of research and training expertise. Collectively, these faculty will be able to provide outstanding predoctoral training at the interface between cell signaling and lung pathobiology. The training program will provide positions for 4 predoctoral students in the first year of the program and 6 students in each subsequent year, and supported for a minimum of two and a maximum of three years. In addition to the requirement for formal academic coursework focusing on lung biology, lung pathophysiology, and signaling mechanisms, trainees will participate the seminar series and research-in-progress forums organized by the Center for Lung Biology. The proposed training program will provide a vibrant academic research environment for predoctoral students. Our goal is to provide the pulmonary research community with a rich resource of well-trained candidates for competitive postdoctoral positions.
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