Over the past 40 years, anesthesiologists have become increasingly important contributors to both basic science and clinical research. To be effective, this research has required an increased understanding of basic physiology, pharmacology, genetics, molecular biology, bioengineering, epidemiology, and biostatistics. If anesthesiology is to continue to improve the safety of care provided to an increasingly complicated group of patients of increasing age and to continue to attract the most competent care providers into the specialty, we must provide the best training possible, both in clinical care and research. We believe it is crucial to maintain training of anesthesiologists as scientists in order to maintain the clinical relevance of research endeavors. The rapid progression of scientific discovery in recent years, offers remarkable opportunities for direct application of basic scientific findings to patients with disease. Rigorous training in both basic science and clinical research is the key to optimize this type of translational research. The goal of this program is to provide basic and clinical scientific training to academic anesthesiologists as an integral component of their postgraduate clinical training program. This training will allow anesthesiologists to establish independent investigative careers devoted to improving care of the anesthetized/critically ill patient by advancing knowledge in the field. This proposal outlines the credentials of a diverse but cohesive faculty who are willing and prepared to meet this objective. The training program involves a two year continuum where trainees work under close supervision of a faculty member in research areas of neuroscience, gender biology, lung biology, cardiovascular, kidney, metabolism, and pain. Initially, the trainee will learn research skills, and later emphasis will be directed towards independent hypothesis generation, experimental design, data analysis, presentation of research findings, and competition for external funding. Research opportunities are offered by faculty members with proven records of success in the training of postdoctoral fellows, both from within Anesthesiology as well as from other collaborating basic science and clinical departments: neurology, medicine, neuroscience, pediatrics, neurosurgery, pathology, and physiology &pharmacology. This program is designed to produce academic anesthesiologists who will provide academic leadership throughout this century.
