There are a number of features of our training program which provide an excellent environment for prospective trainees. As far as formal education is concerned, the trainees can select both undergraduate and graduate courses at Harvard Medical School, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in a very wide range of subjects in chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics amongst others. The trainees have a very broad selection of full-time scientists in the three (3) hospital encompassing a wide field of scientific and clinical interests. Current research includes biomechanics of bone and its relationship to biological function; risk of fracture, gait analyses, material properties of implant materials and their biological interactions; crystal structure of the Ca-P crystals and organic matrix components of bone and cartilage studied by electron microscopy; IR and NMR spectroscopy; cell biology and culture of osteoblasts, osteoclasts and chondrocytes; biochemistry of articular cartilage and the genesis of osteoarthritis; bone and cartilage tumors; bone growth factors and cytokines and their role in the repair and healing of bone; molecular biology of non-collagenous proteins of bone and cartilage and the potential role of matrix phosphorylation in calcification; the role of specific transcription factors in the development of bone and cartilage. Although the majority of our trainees have been at the postdoctoral level (Ph.D. or M.D.), over 20 trainees have completed their Ph.D. thesis in our training program. We have also served as a source of research projects and honors theses for medical students and undergraduate junior and senior students from Harvard and other Boston Universities. The combined laboratory facilities of the three (3) hospitals plus our access to major facilities at Harvard University, MIT and Harvard Medical School allows our trainees a wide variety of research projects, appropriate facilities and experienced scientific mentors to guide their research training. The training period varies from 2 years to 3 years. We plan to start three (3) trainees per year; a total of six (6) trainees will be in the program per year thereafter. I some trainees request a third year, we will either decrease the number of trainees starting in the following year, so no more than six trainees are supported by the training grant per year, or we will independently support the third year of those particular trainees choosing a third year.
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