This proposal requests continued support for the Research Training Program for Pediatric Subspecialty Fellows at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh (CHP). The major goal of the Research Training Program is to identify, mentor, and foster the careers of future leaders in pediatric research who are dedicated to improving child health through discovery. The program offers an intensive research experience for pediatric fellows committed to training in either laboratory-based or patient-oriented research relevant to child health. The training experience is designed to prepare fellows for careers as independent, NIH-funded pediatric physician-scientists in the field of their choice. The Research Training Program facilitates the training of fellows in subspecialties within the Department of Pediatrics that do not have specialty-dedicated T32 grants (e.g., Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Genetics, Health Informatics, Hematology and Oncology, Infectious Diseases, Neurology, Newborn Medicine, and Rheumatology) as well as those in subspecialties that have such programs (e.g., Adolescent Medicine, Endocrinology, General Academic Pediatrics, Nephrology, and Pulmonology) but are more limited in scope. Thus, the program maximizes extramural support by targeting the most talented fellows in our large department and matching them with outstanding mentors in a variety of disciplines. The mentoring faculty includes 26 outstanding basic, translational, and clinical investigators who have distinguished records of research contributions and mentoring as well as four junior faculty mentors-in-training. The emphasis of the mentoring experience is on the fundamentals of scientific inquiry combined with the highest standards of excellence for rigor and integrity. Each fellow is expected to conduct an innovative research project with the research team of one of the faculty mentors, leading to publications and applications for individual career development awards. The Department of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has one of the fastest growing pediatric research programs in the country and is housed on the CHP campus along with the new 300,000-square-foot CHP Rangos Research Center. We have appointed 14 fellows to the Research Training Program at the University of Pittsburgh since its establishment in 2013; 13 will complete training this year, and one remains in training. The outcomes of the Research Training Program are encouraging for a program in existence for only five years. Of the 13 program graduates, all are (or will be) employed in full-time academic positions (nine assistant professors and four instructors). These graduates are supported by foundation grants and NIH funding, and several are applying for additional NIH awards. These outcomes provide confidence that the Research Training Program selects talented trainees, provides a superb team of mentors, and offers an intellectually stimulating environment that inspires fellows in pediatric subspecialties and provides them with the experience and training to become leaders in child health research.
The Research Training Program for Pediatric Subspecialty Fellows at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh supports the training of physician-scientists who seek to improve child health through research. The broad public health significance of this program will be realized through the academic and scholarly accomplishments of the trainees, with connections to both the direct treatment of patients in the clinical setting and the discovery of disease mechanisms and new therapeutic agents.
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