This proposal is for renewal of a research training program in academic nephrology, under the directorship of Dr. Vikas P. Sukhatme, Chief, Renal Division, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC AND HMS), Harvard Medical School (HMS). Support is requested for 8 trainees (an increase from the current level of 6) who will spend at least 2 years in the program. Most candidates will have received the MD degree or the MD-PhD degree but prospective trainees with a PhD background in either immunology, biochemistry, physiology, or cell and molecular biology are also considered. The major criterion for selection is evidence of an interest, ability and commitment to investigative nephrology. Following their training, trainees have generally begun independent research programs as faculty in academic medical schools.*** Research activities span both basic and translational investigations with studies in patients with renal disease, normal volunteers, animal models and cultured cells. Research programs include acute renal failure, molecular mechanisms of cell injury and cell metabolism, ion transport and water excretion, cellular transduction mechanisms, mechanisms of muscle wasting and intracellular protein breakdown, preeclampsia, glomerular pathology and genetics, cellular and transplant immunology, mammalian gene regulation, the genomics and proteomics of kidney, prostate and ovarian cancer, tumor angiogenesis and vascular ectoenzymes, vascular leak, diabetic nephropathy, and vitamin D biology in cancer and bone.***The chief method of instruction is intensive personal involvement in a research program under the close supervision of a senior scientist. Moreover, a structured program of research seminars, journal club, and laboratory presentations is mandatory participation for all trainees. *** The primary facilities for training are in the Renal, Immunology, Gastroenterology, Molecular Medicine, and Interdisciplinary Medicine and Biotechnology Divisions at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center;in the Department of Medicine (Renal Division) at Brigham and Women's Hospital;and Department of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics (Endocrinology) at Boston Medical Center. A clinical research center has capabilities for experimental studies in normal volunteers and patients. A transgenic core, located only two floors below the Renal Division, is also utilized by trainees, as is the NIDDK supported Genomics/Proteomics Core. These sites are close to each other, thus facilitating didactic and research interactions. *** The relevance of this program to public health is that research advances in. medicine are being made by those who have spent several years in a mentored laboratory environment to learn a broad range of techniques used in modern medical research. This program offers this opportunity to physicians not previously trained in research and to those with PhD degrees who need additional or different exposure to medical research.
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