Musculoskeletal researchers at Mayo Clinic Rochester are committed to the goals of the U.S. Bone and Joint Decade, and in alleviating the suffering of all those afflicted with musculoskeletal disorders. The NIAMS supported a 132 training grant in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery from 1995-2000, with Dr. Mark Bolander as the Director. Since this last training program, the institution has recruited several new investigators and fostered the development of a Musculoskeletal Theme, which is focused on consolidating the efforts of these new researchers and existing faculty who are leaders in the fields of orthopedics, epidemiology, osteoporosis, and bone and cartilage biology. The proposed training program will provide opportunities to support the training of future musculoskeletal researchers within the existing institutional infrastructure. The objectives of the proposed training program are to: (1) Continue Mayo Clinic's excellence and tradition in musculoskeletal research training by providing outstanding research and educational opportunities to the next generation of independent investigators who will advance knowledge and treatment of musculoskeletal diseases and who are capable of productive interactions with both basic science and clinical colleagues, and (2) Foster an interdisciplinary educational environment for students and postdoctoral fellows that includes training in musculoskeletal disease, basic biology, biomedical engineering, biomechanics and epidemiology. This training program in Musculoskeletal Research involves 14 training faculty at Mayo Clinic Rochester, all of whom have extramurally supported research programs. The research strengths of the training program faculty are in the areas of orthopedics, biomechanics and biomedical engineering (Amadio, An, Bishop, Kaufman, O'Driscoll, Yaszemski), clinical outcomes-based research, epidemiology, and mechanistic clinical-investigative studies for orthopedic and musculoskeletal disease (Amin, Gabriel, Kholsa, Leibson), and basic science (Ekker, Kumar, Oursler, Westendorf). Dr. Westendorf will server as director of the program. She is an experienced mentor and training program leader. She will be assisted by codirectors, Dr. Amadio and Dr. Khosla, who are clinician scientists with outstanding training records. Support is requested for eight trainees (4 postdoctoral, 2 predoctoral PhD students, and 2 short-term predoctoral students) each year for five years. Postdoctoral fellows will be recruited by individual mentors, training program advertisements, and the residency/fellowship programs. Predoctoral (PhD) trainees that will be eligible for this training program will be accepted into the Mayo Graduate School. Short-term predoctoral students will be recruited from the Mayo Medical School and other fully accredited medical schools in the United States. The training program will be integrated and enriched by a program of research seminars, grant writing workshops, journal clubs, and joint group meetings where new data are presented. The primary goals of the program are to attract exceptional young physicians and scientists into the field of musculoskeletal research and to assist their intellectual and technical development into productive and independent investigators interested in the mechanisms and treatment of musculoskeletal diseases.
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