In this renewal application, the overall objective of this established and successful multidisciplinary training program in Digestive Diseases continues to be to train qualified postdoctoral individuals (M.D., and/or Ph.D.) for academic careers in gastroenterology and hepatology. The grant includes 33 Full Faculty (a net increase of 3 faculty since the last renewal) from both clinical and basic science departments with two tracks for potential trainees: i) basic/disease oriented research;and ii) patient-oriented research. The basic/disease oriented research tract remains one of long-standing excellence with training opportunities in cell biology, cancer biology, neuromuscular sciences, and experimental surgery/transplantion [sic] research. Training in this track is strongly supported through interactions with the NIH funded Mayo Comprehensive Cancer Center and Departments of Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, Pharmacology, Immunology, and Physiology. The patient-oriented research tract, which has seen recent expansion, maintains training opportunities in epidemiology/outcomes, human trials, and also a new initiative that encompasses Obesity and Nutrition. Training in this track is strongly buttressed by a recently awarded NIH Clinical Translational Science Award to Mayo Clinic. New R01 funded faculty have been added in all the tracks;especially those with an emphasis on Pediatrics or Nutrition. We continue to request support for 5 postdoctoral trainees per year that are selected through objective and consensus-driven mechanisms from a very large and talented pool of M.D., PhD, or M.D./PhD candidates derived from a variety of clinical and basic disciplines. The overall success of the program continues to be outstanding with 70% of former trainees over the last 10 years maintaining staff appointments within academic medicine and a funding portfolio from this cohort that includes 7 new NIH grants. Our aggressive recruitment of both female and underrepresented minority candidates also continues, with 44 % of the candidates deriving from female or minority groups during the last 10 years. This approach is strengthened by increased faculty representation of females and underrepresented minorities. Thus, this well established training program remains nimble and innovative, thereby continuing to be highly successful in achieving its goal of training individuals for academic careers in gastroenterology and hepatology.
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