Duke University Medical Center has been engaged in the training of clinicians and scientists in the area of cardiovascular diseases -for over 40 years. Much of this success can be attributed to 25 years of funding of the Cardiovascular Training Program Grant. This application is a competitive renewal for our Cardiovascular Training Program Grant, which was last funded in 1996. The cardiovascular training program represents the integrated efforts of the Departments of Medicine, Surgery, Cell Biology, Pediatrics, Pharmacology, Engineering, and Genetics to train postdoctoral cardiovascular physician-scientists. This will be accomplished by providing a multidisciplinary faculty and environment to trainees in order to foster and develop excellence in biomedical research related to the cardiovascular system. The underlying philosophy of this program will be to integrate training and research by creating an environment that facilitates the natural linkages among programs and departments throughout the University. An extended period of research (2 years or more) will be provided to trainees under the mentorship of program faculty who will closely supervise and direct the academic career development of the trainee. This program will provide an important mechanism for supporting trainees during a critical period of postgraduate medical training and provide an environment conducive to a research-oriented career. During this time, trainees will be """"""""protected"""""""" from clinical responsibilities and immersed in research to obtain the background and experience necessary to establish themselves an independent investigators in academic institutions. The individual mentor will provide skills such as experimental design, data analysis, and manuscript and grant preparation during the training period. The goal of this program is to continue this history of productivity by creating an environment that will ensure that Duke will continue to contribute to the development of young investigators capable of pursuing successful research careers in cardiovascular fields. The current application will describe the modifications and improvements that have been recently implemented and will discuss Duke""""""""s ongoing commitment to train the next generation of cardiovascular researchers. The training program emphasizes the training of physician-scientists, and to this end, approximately 90% of the trainees will be MDs or MD/PhDs.
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