The objective of our T32 training grant entitled ?Integrated Fellowship on the Epidemiology and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease is to rigorously train physicians and behavioral scientists in epidemiologic and behavioral research methods focused on preventing cardiovascular diseases by a) providing trainees with an integrated, comprehensive, and intensive 2-year research training experience in CVD prevention and/or behavioral medicine, b) linking trainees with highly experienced and dedicated mentors who will supervise the research experience and evaluate their progress and 3) providing instruction to these trainees on multiple related components of the research process, including didactic coursework on epidemiology and /or behavioral medicine, protection of human subjects in research, confidentiality requirements, elements of appropriate and unbiased analysis of data, and, after the completion of training, finding the appropriate venue to utilize their skills. This program began in 2007 with a broadly defined focus on epidemiology and prevention. During the first grant period (2007 ? 2012), we learned that while all trainees are focused on prevention, some have primarily an epidemiologic focus and others are more interested in behavioral medicine. In order to fully accommodate trainees with these different interests, and for the current funding period (2012 ? 2017), we changed the structure of the program by expanding the leadership to two co-directors, one of whom has extensive experience in research and mentorship related to cardiovascular epidemiology and the other has a similar depth of experience in cardiovascular behavioral medicine, while retaining the Associate Director position that had been in existence since the inception of the program. For the current period, we expanded the number of positions in the program from four to five (2 predocs and 3 postdocs). For this renewal (2017 ? 2022), we propose to keep the same number of trainees. Beyond this, we are proposing a change to the leadership. Since Dr. Criqui will be retiring in a few years, and to allow for a smooth transition, Dr. Allison (Associate Director) will assume the role that Dr. Criqui was filling, Dr. Marcus will remain the co-director and Dr. Criqui will remain with the program as the Senior Associate Program Director. All Directors are faculty in the Division of Preventive Medicine in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine in the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. To achieve the objectives of the program, faculty for the proposed program have been recruited not only from this Division but from several other divisions in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, as well as from other Departments in the School of Medicine, including Medicine and Psychiatry. Similarly, faculty have been recruited from the San Diego State University Graduate School of Public Health, which has teaching programs in both epidemiology and health behavior. In addition, the University of California and San Diego State University sponsor two joint doctoral programs closely linked to this proposal: Public Health and Clinical Psychology.
This application to renew an NIH funded (T32) training program focused on the epidemiology and prevention of cardiovascular disease is relevant to public health since heart disease and stroke remain the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in developed countries, and they are becoming significant public health problems in developing countries. Moreover, the etiology of these diseases is multifactorial with lifestyle factors, including physical inactivity, poor diet and smoking, accounting for more than 50% of the burden of cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality. Given this, the proposed training program will prepare pre- and post-doctoral fellows to become researchers who will explore the causes (both medical and behavioral) of cardiovascular disease so that effective prevention strategies can be developed and implemented.
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