This renewal application for T32 DK067872, Research Training in Gastroenterology, at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) requests five years of support for four predoctoral and five postdoctoral (MD, PhD, MD/PhD) trainees. Program goals are unchanged: to seek and prepare talented trainees for academic careers in gastroenterology by offering an integrated, interdisciplinary curriculum that emphasizes mucosal biology & immunology, cell signaling & proliferation, enteric pathogens & vaccine development, and clinical research. UMB entities represented by faculty mentors with strong NIH support cut across schools and departments to include the Schools of Medicine (Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, Surgery, Epidemiology & Public Health, Microbiology & Immunology, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology) and Pharmacy (Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences). Broad-based training opportunities allow predoctoral trainees to obtain PhD or MD/PhD degrees and postdoctoral trainees to earn MS, MPH or PhD degrees. Under the supervision of expert mentors, the training program is designed to enable trainees to develop hypotheses, design and perform basic or clinical research to test these hypotheses, become expert in at least one substantive area relevant to digestive diseases, develop skills needed for oral and written presentations, master the principles of responsible conduct of research, and prepare for transition to an academic career in digestive diseases. Three research tracks (Mucosal Immunology & Inflammation; Epithelial Cell Biology & Signaling; Clinical & Translational Science) are directed by accomplished senior investigators and comprised of highly productive experienced mentors who interact both within and amongst these tracks. Since its inception in 2005, this T32 program has been highly successful; all training slots were filled, trainee retention was 100%, and productivity was outstanding. All six predoctoral trainees who completed training qualified for the PhD degree. In the current funding period, eight of 12 postdoctoral trainees (66%) either received or are poised to receive advanced degrees (MS, MPH or PhD). This T32 program remains extraordinarily diverse; since its inception we trained 33 persons of whom 19 (58%) are women and 6 (18%) are underrepresented minorities. Of 16 postdoctoral trainees who completed all training, 13 (81%) have academic faculty appointments and two successfully competed for NIH funding (NIDDK K08 awards). During the current funding cycle, the program has continued to mature and grow by adding funded, productive faculty with strong mentoring credentials, and by innovation (e.g. leveraging the ABIM research pathway to identify and recruit promising medical students for mentored T32-sponsored pathways leading to academic gastroenterology, adding novel self-assessment tools, and enhancing instruction in Responsible Conduct of Research with our own series of T32 faculty-led seminars that address specific ethical issues). We also provide evidence that this T32 program adds great value to the UMB scientific community by attracting investigators from other disciplines to digestive disease-related research.
Increasing competition for scarce research dollars and other hardships in academic medicine, as well as the lure of private practice, discourage trainees from careers in digestive diseases-related research. The overall goal of this T32 training program is to seek, nurture and mentor talented pre- and postdoctoral trainees committed to such careers, and provide them with successful role models and the tools needed to persevere and succeed in this harsh environment. To accomplish these goals, our multidisciplinary faculty offers an integrated, individualized curriculum in both basic and clinical digestive diseases-related investigation within a diverse and rich research environment with strong institutional support.
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