The Education and Enrichment Core will provide an education and outreach program that is seen as one of the centerpieces of the VOKD. Our primary goal is to provide a widely accessible educational program that will enhance kidney disease research by attracting new scientific expertise to study the mechanisms and treatment of kidney disease. Under the leadership of Dr. Mark de Caestecker we have developed an innovative and multifaceted program that is intimately integrated with biomedical research base and core expertise that is ingrained within the structure of the VOKD. In this proposal we will continue to develop and enhance the successful and sought after components of this educational program, notably the Mouse Kidney Injury Workshop and the Summer Research Training Program in Kidney Disease (SRTP-KD). However, we also plan to develop a number of new education and training opportunities both for the nephrology research and lay communities. These include: 1) the development of a new, hands on practical translational histology workshop, which will be developed in conjunction with the Drs. Fogo, Yang, and Zhang from the Histology Core; 2) a web-based training tool to enhance pre-clinical research rigor and reproducibility through our VCKD website; and 3) the development of an innovative community engagement and outreach program. Dr. Adriana Hung and Dr. Kerri Cavanaugh will co-direct this core. Dr. Hung's primary role will be to help coordinate the SRTP-KD, while Dr. Cavanaugh will be primarily responsible for facilitating the education outreach programs.
The Vanderbilt Center for Kidney Disease (VCKD) provides an education and outreach program that is one of the centerpieces of the center's program. Our primary goal is to provide a widely accessible educational program that will enhance kidney disease research by attracting new scientific expertise to study the mechanisms and treatment of kidney disease.!