The University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine (Penn) Gastroenterology (GI) Training Program has been instrumental in the development of academic research careers for gastroenterology trainees since 1963. During the last 15 years, there has been a tremendous expansion of biomedical research. The Penn GI Training Program has increased its base of basic science faculty coupled with impressive growth and maturation of the adult and pediatric GI divisions. Trainees have outstanding opportunities to pursue molecular and cellular biology in the field of gastroenterology, including hepatology and pancreatology. Direction: The Program Director (Dr. Anil Rustgi) and Associate Director (Dr. Gary Wu) have an administrative structure that oversees the needs of the Training Program, assisted by an Internal Advisory Board and an External Advisory Board. They are complemented by rigorous individual trainee research advisory committees. Faculty: Research faculty from the Adult and Pediatric GI divisions and basic science departments are selected based upon experience with trainees, independent and externally funded laboratories, and relevant projects in digestive, liver and pancreatic diseases. The faculty is grouped by research interests; we refer to them as affinity or thematic groups: 1) Developmental biology and genetics; 2) Immunobiology and host responses; and 3) Cell growth and differentiation. Proposed Training: The cornerstone of the Program is an intensive laboratory-based research experience (basic and translational), which entails close interaction with a training program faculty mentor and close oversight by a research advisory committee and the administrative structure. This laboratory work is supplemented by an educational curriculum that includes an introductory course in molecular and cellular biology, selected University courses, research seminars and lectures, journal clubs, written and oral research presentations, and seminars on extramural funding and the bioethics of scientific research. Candidates: Outstanding trainees with MD or MD-PhD degrees (postdoctoral fellows) or occasionally PhD degrees enter the Program from the Adult and Pediatric GI Fellowship Programs after being selected through a nationally competitive application process. Additionally, there has been growth in Penn's Physician-Scientist Residency Pathway (short-track internal medicine residents pursuing GI fellowship) and new avenues have emerged to identify future trainees in gastroenterology, including through our NIDDK R25 undergraduate training grant and our medical student T32 training grant supplements.
Gastroenterology is a multidisciplinary field including approaches in basic science and translational medicine. It is vital to improve diagnosis and therapy of gastrointestinal diseases and disorders through research discoveries. The future of gastroenterology is predicated upon the development and growth of young physician-scientists and basic scientists. The University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine Gastroenterology Training Program has had historic success, and continues to be on the leading edge of nurturing young researchers and ensuring their maturation as leading investigators.
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