The number of available organs is severely limited by a shortage of donors. A new field of science, regenerative medicine, has emerged that brings the potential of designing and creating artificial organs or parts of organs very close to a reality. To develop functional tissue it will be required to apply genetic, computational, and tissue engineering approaches in a novel way. This will require a novel type of scientist who has been well-trained in the concepts and methods at the interfaces of multiple disciplines. Successfully integrating the approaches of developmental biology, genomic, computational and quantitative science, and tissue engineering could dramatically catalyze the formation of a new interdisciplinary approach to organ building. This would have a profound impact on the treatment of many diseases. The SysCODE (Systems-based Consortium for Organ Design and Engineering) Training Program involves educational and research communities at Harvard, MIT, Boston University, and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. The primary goal is to is to cross-train young postdoctoral trainees in an area of expertise outside of their primary research field. Working at the intersection of multiple disciplines will enable these trainees to learn a new language and ultimately develop a common dialect that effectively bridges disciplines. This new generation of scholars will be better prepared to address the complexity of organ design and engineering from an interdisciplinary approach. The fabric of collaboration and interdisciplinary approaches to science will break from the usual """"""""one postdoctoral fellow - one mentor - one laboratory"""""""" approach to postgraduate training in the sciences and will actively encourage communication across laboratories, institutions and geographic boundaries. This program will provide postdoctoral trainees with tools necessary for becoming independent investigators with unique faculty in the interdisciplinary approach to science.
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