The program directors and faculty from three of the six prior NHLBI Program of Excellence in Glycoscience (PEG) centers have joined forces with top quality physician scientists at the Cleveland Clinic and at Johns Hopkins to create a unique career development program that will train the next generation of leaders in biomedical research involving glycans and human disease. Scholars will be selected by either an advertised national search or by selecting individuals who were already nationally recruited by highly competitive searches to local fellowship programs in cardiology, pulmonology or biomedical engineering. Five scholars will be selected during the first cycle of the Program. Five additional Scholars will be selected in the second cycle of the Program. Each Scholar will have at-least two co-mentors, one a leading expert in glycoscience and the other(s) leading experts in clinical/translational research on a disease of high priority to NHLBI. Selection of Scholars will favor individuals with the M.D. or M.D.-Ph.D. degree. The objectives of our career development program are to provide immersion in state-of-the art glycosciences relevant to human disease for both Scholars and their clinical co-mentors. The career development program will consist of a multi-faceted immersion in disease-related glycosciences. Research experiences will be supplemented by a) advanced topic lectures; b) translational glycoscience examples & applications; c) thematic literature reviews; d) glycoscience seminar series; and e) research in progress. This training will be simulcast at the Cleveland Clinic or Johns Hopkins University (JHU) as needed. f) Scholars will also take a hands-on laboratory course, where they will learn major skills required to do research in glycosciences. Biomedical glycoscience career development will be further supported by professional development opportunities, focused on grant writing, presentation skills, and networking. Attendance at all Program activities by Scholars will be mandatory. Participation and progress of Scholars will be collectively overseen by the internal oversight committee, comprised of all of the Co-P.I.s. A formal electronic system for evaluating both the Scholars and mentors will be established. The overall Program will be evaluated annually by an outside review panel, comprised of leading glycoscientists. We will also monitor publications, presentations and career trajectories of present and former Scholars to evaluate the overall success of the Program. Our Program will create a cadre of physician scientists who not only will become leaders in disease-related research, but also will be well versed in the glycosciences required to understand the molecular basis of disease. True success of the Program will occur as these Scholars are now able to pass on their knowledge of the importance of glycans to their own Fellows when they become independent physician scientists.
Although glycans are directly involved in the etiology of nearly all human disease, the workforce having the knowledge and skills to understand and perform research in glycan biology is exceedingly small. We have created a unique Program comprised of leading glycoscientists and clinical researchers who will collaboratively equip a cadre of young biomedical scientists to perform cutting-edge research on the roles of glycans in disease. These Scholars will pass their knowledge and skills to their future trainees to further increase the workforce in this critical area of biomedical science.
| Zachara, Natasha E (2018) Critical observations that shaped our understanding of the function(s) of intracellular glycosylation (O-GlcNAc). FEBS Lett 592:3950-3975 |
