? The training program proposed for renewal offers 2-3 years of fellowship designed to prepare physicians and post-doctoral scientists for academic medicine careers in the area of obesity. The program provides a structured but flexible research experience with an emphasis on the performance of basic laboratory research. Trainees are incorporated into the investigative programs of the New York Obesity Research Center, which is a consortium including St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center and Columbia University Medical Center. Trainees are based at either St. Luke's or Columbia and may elect to work with faculty members in one of the two institutions, or design a program that allows them to spend some time in one lab and some in another. The faculty's multidisciplinary nature (physicians, biochemists, cell biologists, psychologists, nutritionists, statisticians, etc) allows a multidisciplinary approach on the part of the trainees. Strong collaborative ties already existing among members of the listed faculty make this possible. Trainees have available multiple techniques in enzymology, cell culture, molecular genetics and gene cloning, body composition, calorimetry, metabolic balance, nutritional assessment, stable isotope methodology, hormone and metabolite assays, hormone receptor biochemistry, ingestive behavior, animal models of obesity, and many more. Trainees are (1) physicians who have completed 3 to 5 years of post-graduate clinical training, (2) recent Ph.D. (or equivalent) recipients in disciplines including (but not limited to) genetics, biochemistry, nutrition, psychology, physiology, neuroendocrinology, neuroscience or pharmacology. Individuals are selected on the basis of their demonstrated competence in graduate school, recommendations of their previous faculty and consideration of the degree to which their interests fit in with those of the faculty and with ongoing research programs. All trainees must have as a future plan an investigative and teaching career in the area of obesity, eating disorders, or appetitive behavior. Each of the cooperating faculty laboratories is well equipped and funded to support the trainee's research in an optimal manner. The program is intended to develop independent investigative skills and a rigorous approach to investigation through regular research and didactic seminars. A broad program of courses is available to the trainees at Columbia University. ? ?
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