This Basic Science Cardiovascular Training Program, currently in its 24th year, offers postdoctoral training to individuals planning full-time academic careers in cardiovascular science in research areas of hypertension, atherosclerosis, and ischemic heart disease and heart failure. Basic training is offered in molecular biology, genetics, genomics, biochemistry, pharmacology, physiology, myocardial and vascular cell biology, and in the application of these disciplines to the research areas. The training sites are the basic science laboratories of the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute and the Evans Biomedical Research Center of the Boston University Medical Center. The research is supported by two SCOR grants, three program project grants as well as numerous individuals grants. The program is multidisciplinary and includes faculty participation from the Departments of Medicine, Biochemistry, Biophysics, Physiology, and Pharmacology. The most important aspect of the program, and the major activity of the trainee, is the research performed by the trainee under the direct supervision of the laboratory director who serves as preceptor. Formal courses and seminars supplement the research experience. The program is designed to provide in- depth training and produce investigators qualified to perform independent, high-quality, original research in the designated areas. Candidates holding the M.D. and/or Ph.D. degrees in appropriate fields are recruited. Each applicant is assessed and accepted or rejected by a committee of senior scientists. Physician trainees are required to have completed their initial clinical training. Support is requested for 12 post-doctoral trainees per year; this represents continuation of the current level of support. Each trainee will remain in the training program for 2-3 years. All of the preceptors' labs are funded by at least one major grant; they are well equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for animal surgery, cardiac and vascular physiology, molecular biology, development of transgenic animals, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, gas and high pressure liquid chromatography, mass spectroscopy, analytic ultracentrifugation, fluorescent activated cell sorting, confocal microscopy, tissue culture, organ culture, amino acid analyzers, protein sequencers and NMR and EPR spectroscopy.
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