The research area of the proposed training program is bone biology. The disciplines represented by our faculty include biochemistry, physiology, cell biology, molecular biology, clinical chemistry, pathology, virology, and clinical research. Our basic research facility includes 8,400-square foot of wet bench laboratory space, including a BL3 virology equipped. Our faculty total eleven in number, with two M.D.s, eight Ph.D.s and one M.D./Ph.D. One of the major strengths of our organization is that our entire faculty occupy in the same general laboratory area at this VA Medical Center, though they represent different disciplines at Loma Linda University. Moreover, this spatial arrangement leads to and facilitates collaborations among faculty of different disciplines. Our faculty are well funded, as indicted by the fact that we have four VA Merit Review grants, eight NIH grants, two other federally funded grants, five industry grants, and six seed money grants from Loma Linda University. Thus, we have adequate sources of funding for our trainees. The organizational aspect of our training program is highly structured in that we have frequent meetings, such as journal clubs and staff meetings, and we have annual trainee evaluations. On the other hand our program is flexible in that the trainees select their own research projects and frequently select projects with more than one preceptor and projects involving more than one discipline. Our eleven faculty propose 24 major projects for four predoctoral fellows and four postdoctoral fellows. These trainees will have the opportunity to chose those projects which best fit their interest and background. These projects range from clinical projects to highly technical molecular biology projects. Most of these projects are federally funded. We are requesting four predoctoral slots and four postdoctoral slots. We have an adequate number of applicants to fill these slots. For example, in the last year, the relevant departments (biochemistry, microbiology, and anatomy) have had more than 100 applications from predoctoral candidates and the Mineral Metabolism Laboratory has had over 200 postdoctoral candidate applications. One means by which to evaluate the success of a training program is by the subsequent performance of the trainees. Seven of the past eight trainees from our training grant are still in academia, either in faculty positions or in training (the other trainee is setting up a biotech business in his area of expertise). Finally, we anticipate that the proposed training program will not only provide superior training to young qualified scientists, but will also enrich the overall research program of this laboratory and improve our scientific productivity.
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