This T32 competitive renewal application from the Yale Department of Dermatology proposes to continue its strong track record of training future leaders in academic dermatology. Of the twenty-four trainees supported by this T32 program during the past ten years who have completed their subspecialty and/or research training, eighteen (75%) are currently in full-time positions in academic institutions, and ten of these are doing substantive basic and/or clinical investigation. Emphasis will be maintained on this program developing the research and critical thinking skills of MD and MD/PhD dermatologists, although PhD candidates considered to have significant potential to make substantive contributions to translational and molecular cutaneous biology will also be sought out for consideration. The currently identified training faculty for this renewal consists of thirty-six individuals with broad-ranging expertise in cutaneous biology and substantive previous mentoring experience. Twenty-two are R01-funded Primary Mentors/PIs (eleven with faculty appointments in Dermatology and eleven with appointments in six other departments), all established internationally respected mentors and conducting cutting-edge research collectively encompassing a substantial portion of contemporary cellular and molecular biology. However, trainees are not restricted to these currently identified mentors in their search for an appropriat research project/preceptor; indeed, they are strongly encouraged to look broadly throughout Yale University for potential mentors whose laboratories would provide them with the best opportunities to further develop and refine their research and critical thinking skills; necessary qualifications for being a primary mentor include current R01 or equivalent funding, a documented previous track record as a successful mentor, and approval by this program's Executive Committee. Because we consider it most conducive to the trainees' development of intellectual independence and to the introduction of new scientific skill into the dermatology community, substantial exposure to outstanding investigators outside our own department will continue to be emphasized; as during the past four funding periods, each trainee will have two mentors, one inside and one outside the Dermatology Department. In the usual circumstance in which the Primary Mentor/PI is based is outside the department, the Dermatology faculty secondary advisor will serve as an additional monitor of the trainee's progress to help insure that her/his career trajectory stays on course. Fourteen other Dermatology faculty members have been designated as Secondary Mentors/Advisors because they are principally clinically oriented or have yet to fully establish their independent research programs; however, five of these represent new junior faculty with demonstrated abilities to obtain peer-reviewed funding and outstanding potential to become preceptors within the next several years.
of this grant proposal to public health lies in the fact that it is directed at training young physicians (MDs or MD/PhDs) and PhD investigators to acquire the skills necessary to ultimately enter full-time academic careers in basic and/or clinical research and teaching in dermatology, thereby increasing our understanding of cutaneous (skin) biology, and our abilities to effectively treat a broad variety of skin diseases. The public health impact of skin disease is significant, with inflammatory disorders such as highly prevalent atopic dermatitis and psoriasis causing significant morbidity and cutaneous malignancy causing both morbidity and mortality. It is critical to train new generations of skin disease researchers to more effectively diagnose and treat such disorders.
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