We are requesting continued funding of our T32 training grant DK007647 ?Graduate Training in Nutrition? to support our predoctoral program in Nutritional and Metabolic Biology. The overall goal of our program is to train individuals to become leading investigators in the field of nutritional sciences who will contribute substantially to modern biomedical research. The program is housed in the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. It is directed by Dr. Debra J. Wolgemuth (PI) and Co-Directors (Co-PIs) Drs. Anthony W. Ferrante and Lori M. Zeltser. This training program is broadly focused on the nutritional and metabolic sciences. The required didactic training consists of graduate level basic science and nutrition courses, and all PhD students participate in the Doctoral Seminar and Reviews in Nutrition course throughout their residence in the training program. All the training faculty have laboratory-based basic science research programs focused on nutrients or nutrition-related diseases such as diabetes, obesity, or cardiometabolic disease. Although training focused on basic nutritional research, the program also provides a broad education in clinical and public health nutrition. The program consists of a highly structured didactic component and a mentored research component. Support from this grant was the key ingredient that allowed this training program in nutrition to grow from 6 PhD students and 11 faculty in 1989 to its present steady-state size of ~30 PhD students and 38 faculty. For the previous grant period, we received support for 6 Ph.D. students per year. Because of the growth and achievements of our training program, we are requesting continued support for 6 PhD students per year in this renewal application. The initial stages of the program provide comprehensive, structured training in modern biomedical research with a focus on nutrition and nutrition-related questions. Next, trainees are provided with rigorous mentored research training. This research training takes place in the research groups of one of the productive and well- funded independent scientists who comprise the training faculty. The data and narrative provided within this application demonstrate that we are very successfully training individuals committed to careers in research, teaching, and related professions with the fundamental knowledge, skills, and experience that are needed for developing successful, independent nutritional sciences research careers in the 21st Century.
The discipline of nutrition touches on individuals of all nationalities and backgrounds, and indeed the most serious sequela of malnutrition are observed in the poorest and most under-represented sectors of society. In recognition of this fact, the IHN and this Training Program have long believed it was our responsibility not only to advance understanding of the underlying causes and consequences of malnutrition, both under-nutrition and increasingly, over-nutrition, but also to provide training to individuals from the communities most affected by the adverse health effects of poor nutrition. In this light, the IHN has for over 25 years maintained a vigorous PhD Training Program in nutritional sciences, renewal of support for which is sought in this application.
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