We propose a training program designed to attract and train physicians in a two year fellowship devoted to research on the pathophysiology of the response to injury. The goals of this training program are to nurture talented young individuals in the areas of basic-researchand clinical investigation, to teach them to design and perform successful research projects, and to give them a solid background in the ethics and methods of scientific research. The objective of this fellowship is to increase the focus of research on injury within the University of North Carolina and to train individuals to become independent investigators and academic faculty with an interest in the area of trauma. Trainees will be selected from a broad group of candidates. Special efforts will be made to identify minority applicants who will increase the diversity of our trainees in this and other institutions. The training program is two years of full-time effort working with one or more of a large group of talented faculty mentors. Research projects are concentrated in the areas of organ failure after injury, immunology and host resistance. Weekly seminars with the trainees allow them to present their material to the research community. Additionally, trainees are required to present their research at Surgery Grand Rounds, and submit abstracts to national meetings. Two intensive week-long courses, Responsible Conduct of Research and Methods in Clinical Research, are provided for trainees in the first month of the program. Trainees have the opportunity to attend graduate level courses from the broad range available at the UNC-CH and surrounding area universities to enhance their research experience. The Training Advisory Committee will assist the Program Director in recruitment and selection of trainees, approval of trainee's research and didactic plans, assignment of trainee to appropriate Research Training Faculty, and monitoring of program activities. The Program Evaluation Committee will provide overall evaluation of the training program and provide feedback to the Training Committee. . All of the Research Training Faculty in the program are established investigators with current NIH funding or other extramural funding, and are experienced mentors of physician-scientists. The faculty have diverse interests, allowing multiple candidates to find appropriate mentors within the training program. There is a strong institutional history of multidisciplinary collaboration. A group of Clinician-Scientist mentors will provide guidance to trainees through discussion of the clinical dimensions of the research. There is a growing demand for academic trauma surgeons and burn surgeons to both teach subsequent generations of providers as well as develop innovative patient treatments. This training grant is designed to help meet this demand.
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