The pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases is complex. Yet the number of investigators trained to deal with whole organism diseases is decreasing. Accordingly, we propose to train future vascular biologists capable of implementing integrated approaches combining """"""""cellular"""""""", """"""""whole animal"""""""" and """"""""human"""""""" systems through multidisciplinary collaborations that begins during pre-doctoral training. We have developed an interdisciplinary program for predoctoral training in Integrative Vascular Biology (IVB) at the University of North Carolina with the stated goal of stimulating students to collaborate, and to unite them as an IVB group. The success of the IVB Program to date, which began four years ago with the curren T32 funding, is clearly, demonstrated by the number of trainees who went on to obtain individual fellowships from AHA and other sources (7/16) and of travel/poster awards earned by the trainees at various meetings (total 17). The program has also stimmulated overall vascular biology research on UNC campus. This renewal application requests a funding to continue our IVB Program with a support for 15 pre-doctoral trainees per year. Trainees will be selected from graduate students already enrolled in departmental programs and curricula at UNC, and will be suported for up to three years. To encourage the multi-disciplinary approach, we require each trainee to have collaborating advisor(s) in addition to the conventional primary mentor. The IVB Program is administered by the campus-wide Program for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. Dr. Nobuyo Maeda, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, is the Director, and Dr. Mark Majesky, Professor of Genetics, is the Co-Director. The primary thesis advisors are faculty members (from 12 Departments in three Schools and one College at UNC), with a strong commitment to predoctoral training through vascular biology related research at the molecular, cellular, and whole organism levels. To form a body of complementing faculty with whom the trainees can choose to collaborate, the primary training faclty is joined by clinical faculty and scientists at UNC, who maintain active laboratories mainly with postdoctoral students, and by investigators at nearby Institutions in the Research Triangle area. With its outstanding history in vascular biology research, its strong group of investigators, and its strength in animal model studies, the IVB Program at UNC offers an outstanding environment for multidisciplinary training of pre-doctoral students.
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