This competing continuation application seeks to extend the T32 DK07726 for an additional 5 years of funding and to maintain the number of trainees at 5/year (levels 5,5,6,6,7). This program, Research Training in Pediatric Nephrology, has provided the foundation for our training program for academic investigators in the area of pediatric nephrology. The goal of the Children's Hospital Boston, Division of Nephrology's fellowship and research training program is to develop academic physicians and scientists who will establish independent investigative careers in areas relevant to the understanding of childhood kidney diseases. Changes in the program in this cycle of funding include: 1) a change in Program Director, 2) an expansion in the training of Pediatric Nephrology research trainees, and 3) an increase in opportunities for the development of translational research. Dr Briscoe, who transitioned to Co-Director of the program in the previous funding period, will serve as Director of the training program in this renewal. Dr Briscoe is dedicated to the training of physician-scientists, and under his direction in this current period of funding, the program has significantly expanded. In AY2004 we had 7 Pediatric Nephrology and 23 post-doctoral research fellows in training. Currently, we have 12 Pediatric Nephrology and 25 post-doctoral research fellows. These additional trainees include Pediatric Nephrology fellows who were competitive, and were accepted into the elite national Pediatric Scientist Development Program, as well as the local Clinical investigator Training Program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while training with our Program Faculty. Over the past 10 years, 36 Pediatric Nephrology trainees and 70 post-doctoral research trainees entered our program. These trainees received 90 research grants and 105 trainee awards. In addition, these 106 trainees contributed to a total of 1014 publications. Of these, 333 publications over the past 10 years were from the 36 Pediatric Nephrology trainees. Our Training Faculty are leaders in their fields, have significant experience in mentorship, and their research interests represent the diversity of disciplines within nephrology, including developmental biology, stem cell biology, genetics, renal physiology, transporter biology, glomerular disease, tubular disease, immunology, basic and translational transplantation immunobiology and vascular biology. Recently, Harvard Medical School has recognized the need for formalization of Translational Research training, and we expect that this will expand substantially during the next funding cycle as new programs and opportunities are expanding in the local area. Collectively, we have the opportunity to offer trainees access to a wide variety of research opportunities for productive research in childhood renal diseases.
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