Recognizing the need for physician-scientists in Pediatrics who can help bridge the line between the laboratory and the bedside, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is making a major institutional commitment to increase its substantial research opportunities for Pediatricians. CHOP proposes to expand its strong commitment to pediatric research training by establishing the Molecular Approaches to Pediatric Science Child Health Research Center (MAPS/CHRC), with four goals in mind: (1) Identify and recruit outstanding young pediatricians, especially minorities and women, who show potential for careers in research ; (2) Give them skills in molecular genetics through the use of mentors from several parts of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center with strong and well-funded backgrounds in this central theme of contemporary pediatric research; (3) Underwrite their access to, and training in, the core laboratory facilities that will enhance their ability to carry out modern molecular genetic research; and (4) Provide positions for many of them to establish productive faculty careers at CHOP. The individuals selected for the program will be known and recognized throughout the institution as """"""""MAPS Scholars"""""""". The Principal Investigator, Dr. Elias Schwartz, Physician-in-Chief and Chairman of Pediatrics, and the Program Director, Dr. Robert Nussbaum, Associate Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania, will lead a group of 18 Established Investigators chosen for their well-funded research programs and track records in training. Many of the mentors will be actively involved in the newly-awarded Human Genome Center Grant, in which scientists from the Hospital and the University will create a map of human Chromosome 22. Recruiting Scholars for the MAPS program will be the responsibility of Dr. Kwaku Ohene-Frempong, Director of the NIH Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center at CHOP. Dr.Ohene-Frempong, who has been a national leader in minority medical affairs, will use his broad contacts to attract minority participants to the MAPS/CHRC program at CHOP. Overall, the combination of strong science, solid training opportunities, and the multiplier effect of an extraordinarily large institutional commitment, should provide a very valuable program at CHOP.
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