This is a revision of an application submitted by the Physiology Department and the Cardiovascular Research Center at Temple University School of Medicine The purpose of our program is to provide a broad based multidisciplinary training experience for predoctoral fellows and summer medical students in the area of integrative cardiovascular pathophysiology (ICVP). ICVP faculty reside in the Physiology, Anatomy and Cell Biology, Biochemistry, and Microbiology. Most of these faculty members are housed together in laboratory space within a newly developed Cardiovascular Research Center. Our investigators have overlapping interests in electrical and mechanical properties of normal and diseased cardiac myocytes, and the factors that promote recovery of damaged myocardium, including cardiac stem cells. Newly recruited and established CVRC faculty also study the cellular and molecular properties of fibroblasts, myocytes, smooth muscle and blood cells as well as the control and regulation of the extracellular matrix of the heart and blood vessels. All investigators have a portion of their research related to the role of their favorite molecule, signaling pathway or cell type in a major cardiovascular disease, including hypertension, atheroscerlosis, vascular injury, myocardial infarction and congestive heart failure. Graduate students will receive broad training in human physiology and pathophysiology, complemented by advanced training in cellular and molecular biology and the appropriate use of animal models of human cardiovascular disease. Ph.D. student research projects will have basic and translational components. The student will be expected to ask questions that go beyond a single molecule and address questions within the context of cardiovascular disease models. Different portions of these projects will be performed in the laboratories of different investigators, ensuring that students are exposed to different scientific approaches. All students and fellows will be involved in activities to enhance their grant and manuscript writing and oral communication skills. Group mentoring by junior and senior faculty will ensure trainees are well qualified to assume positions as leading investigators able to rapidly translate new knowledge into clinical practice. The goal is to graduate new Ph.D. that are able to compete for top rated postdoctoral positions, to fulfill the need for new investigators to discover mechanisms of human disease.
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