The Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine (PACCM) at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has a longstanding tradition of commitment to the training of academic pulmonary investigators. This application is a renewal of a T32 training grant which has supported trainees at the University of Pittsburgh continuously since 1984 to better understand the pathophysiology and pathogenesis of lung diseases. The goal of the PACCM Multidisciplinary Training Program is to mentor and train postdoctoral fellows (MD's and PhD's) and predoctoral students focused on biomedical research careers by providing an exciting and mentored environment. This proposal will outline the comprehensive training and mentoring resources available to support eight postdoctoral fellows and two predoctoral students yearly. This program is designed to foster a rigorous approach to scientific inquiry in basic science or clinical investigation. Four thematic units of research are emphasized: (1) cell biology and molecular immunology;(2) lung and vascular injury;(3) human pathophysiology;and 4) epidemiology and functional genomics. These four training units will be supported by 32 established investigators, with a good balance between basic and clinical research expertise, and most importantly with proven track records of scientific productivity and mentoring record. Strong interactions and collaborations between the Trainers of these 4 training cores embody the spirit and mission of this multidisciplinary training program. The lung research community at the University of Pittsburgh has been further strengthened since the successful renewal of this training program in 2002. Our full time faculty members total 50 in year 2006, compared to 15 in 2001 , postdoctoral fellows total 28 in 2006 compared to 10 in 2001, and predoctoral graduate students total 6 in 2006 compared to none in 2001. Our total grant revenue has increased from 1.3 million of direct costs in 2001 to more than 10 million dollars in 2007. The PACCM Multidisciplinary Training Program is clearly focused to maintain and expand the rich basic and clinical research training in lung diseases in Pittsburgh. The PACCM will use the rich tradition of the past, with new energy and resources, to achieve a comprehensive training opportunity for postdoctoral and predoctoral trainees in the future.
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