The National Bone and Joint Decade, 2002-2011, envisions a series of initiatives among physicians, health professionals, patients, and communities, working together to promote research and development into therapies, preventative measures, and cures for the rheumatic diseases. This comes at a time when there is a growing concern that the number of newly trained academic scientists equipped to make major advances and to assume leadership roles will be inadequate. Accordingly, the Fellowship Training Program in Rheumatology and Clinical Immunogenetics represents a cooperative effort of accomplished faculty from the academic components of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the Texas Children's Hospital to provide to outstanding, academically pre-and postdoctoral fellows intensive basic or clinical research training in rheumatology, genetics and health services research. A productive and collaborative group of senior scientists and physician-scientists with complementary interests and a demonstrated commitment to mentorship and training will serve as mentoring faculty to two predoctoral and four postdoctoral fellows. The faculty laboratories offer research experience in important areas of rheumatology, genetics and molecular biology. The program provides training and didactic instruction in fundamental and state-of-the-art disciplines, including molecular genetics, biochemistry, transgenic technologies, immunology, genomics and epidemiology. The trainees will also profit from the substantial resources of the Texas Medical Center and the enormous population of at-risk or affected patients in the area. All applicants in this program must have a firm commitment to a career in academic investigation and to the goals of the Training Program. All trainees will be required to attend specific courses addressing research methodology, experimental design, research integrity and ethics, and representation by trainees from diverse backgrounds will be encouraged. Thus this Program will contribute to a new generation of academic rheumatologists equipped to address challenging problems in rheumatology, genetics and health services research.
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