? This proposal is a revised application for a National Research Service Award Institutional Research Training Grant (T32) to fund a Multidisciplinary Rheumatology Training Program at The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. The overall goal is to support the training and foster the development of outstanding academic rheumatologists. The program will recruit, train and enhance the development of junior rheumatology investigators, and provide trainees with rigorous instruction in research methodology and mentored research projects. These investigators will further our understanding of human rheumatic diseases through their excellence in research. We demonstrate the outstanding divisional and institutional resources available to postdoctoral fellows in rheumatology, including program faculty who are exceptional mentors in the disciplines of clinical investigation, immunology, molecular biology and genetics, cell biology, microbiology, epidemiology and biostatistics, and describe in detail the training program to achieve the overall goal. ? ? Our training environment is focused on providing a productive clinical, basic and translational research training program. The following specific aims will be pursued: [1] Provide rigorous training in investigational methods to rheumatology postdoctoral fellows, applicable to the conduct of both clinical and basic research; [2] Utilize clinical centers of excellence to provide access to well-defined rheumatic disease patient populations, enabling fellow projects to be conducted, at a practical level, on established patient cohorts; [3] Engage postdoctoral fellows in high caliber research projects addressing clinically important questions under the supervision of nationally renowned faculty; [4] Integrate multi-layered mentorship for each postdoctoral fellow to accomplish productive research, independence, and development of a successful academic career; and [5] Assess the outcomes of this training program through benchmarks of trainee accomplishment, including submission of peer-reviewed publications, receipt of external research funding and post-training academic position, while incorporating feedback from trainees, training program faculty, and internal and external advisory committees to modify the program accordingly. ? ? The Program Director (Dr. Rosen), Co-Directors (Drs. Wigley and Gelber), and twenty additional investigators serve as faculty advisors to the trainees. Two advisory committees of scientists, one consisting of Institutional faculty (Internal Advisory Committee), the other of faculty outside Johns Hopkins (External Advisory Committee), will advise the Directors and monitor progress. ? ?
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