ENRICHMENT PROGRAM: ABSTRACT The DRC Enrichment Program has fostered the exchange and discussion of diabetes-related research information for more than 30 years, not only within the Joslin Diabetes Center but also with external scientists with similar interests. The program has several major components: (1) the Longwood Area Diabetes/Metabolism Research Seminar Series, consisting of weekly research seminars featuring invited outside experts, including five named lectures per year that recognize speakers with particularly high-level accomplishments in the diabetes-related scientific community, (2) the weekly Internal Research Seminar Series, a platform for faculty investigators, senior postdoctoral research fellows, and graduate students at Joslin to share their ongoing research, (3) the Clinical Seminar Series, which includes clinical diabetes and obesity-related seminars, case presentations, and journal club presentations, (4) the Summer Seminar Series, which highlights services provided by each DRC Core and introduces new technologies that may enhance current research, (5) special seminars throughout the year, (6) a two-day Research Retreat, held every two years to foster interactions and the exchange of ideas among Joslin researchers, (7) an Annual Poster Day to facilitate informal interactions and data discussion between lab groups, and (8) the Joslin Summer Research Student Program Lecture Series, given by Joslin investigators to undergraduate and medical students within our summer programs, which provides a background of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes as well as diabetes- related research inside and outside the Joslin. Within this framework, over 500 lectures and seminars have been held during the past funding period on topics ranging from basic research to clinical science, including five annual named lectures (the Alexander Marble Lecture on Diabetes, the Ray A. and Robert L. Kroc Lecture, the Priscilla White Annual Lecture on Metabolism, the Michael Brownlee Lectureship in Diabetes Research, and the newly-inaugurated C. Ronald Kahn Distinguished Lectureship). The Enrichment Program is unique in that every member of the Joslin participates, from basic scientists to practicing physicians, including all backgrounds and levels of training, from the newest Joslin trainees and Harvard medical students to emeritus professors. Because the Enrichment Program attracts such a wide array of renowned scientists, it truly enhances all clinical and research programs at the Joslin and the overall strength of the DRC, providing a constant flow and exchange of ideas through the center that is critical for the functioning and enhancement of growth of every core and section. Moreover, seminars supported by the Enrichment Program also provide a focus for diabetes and metabolism-related activity and interactions throughout the Longwood Medical Area and the broader Boston medical community.
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