This application requests continued support for a comprehensive training program in endocrinology and metabolism that has been funded for ten years. The purpose of this program is to train predoctoral fellows and postdoctoral fellows (M.D. and Ph. D.) in the fundamentals of cellular and molecular hormone research and its application to medical practice. During the previously funded period of this program all participating faculty had at least one NRSA-supported trainee, and of these trainees, 80% are continuing in academic careers and 80% are still performing research. They are collectively responsible for co-authoring 99 manuscripts. Steps taken to improve the program and its outcome include the introduction of a course in grantsmanship, and monthly """"""""meet the professor"""""""" sessions entitled Endocrine Perspectives. These two-hour sessions, conducted by individual faculty in rotation, are expected to benefit each trainee with the wisdom and experience of the entire faculty membership. Our improved endocrine program increases this membership by four, and now involves the active participation of 16 faculty from the Endocrine-Metabolism Divisions of Physiology and Medicine, and the Departments of Biochemistry and Pharmacology. All of the faculty are actively engaged in molecular and cellular research, and additionally are members of the Endocrinology and Cancer Program (ERP) of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center. Some faculty are members of a DHMC Clinical Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism Fellowship Program (EDM). All are committed to thoroughly preparing fellows for independent careers in endocrine research. Predoctoral fellows are enrolled as Ph.D. candidates in graduate programs of the Departments of Physiology and Biochemistry. Postdoctoral fellows, both M.D.'s and Ph.D.'s, are primarily engaged in research under the tutelage of one faculty member. Each fellow completes a course in scientific ethics, and has their education and experience broadened by regular interactions with faculty and other fellows through conferences, weekly seminars, and teaching. The primary training center is within the departments of Physiology, Medicine, Biochemistry, and Pharmacology at Dartmouth Medical School. The participating professional personnel all have their own research laboratories. There are offices, libraries, and computing services available to all trainees. Other facilities include all of the resources of Dartmouth College and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
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