? We propose a new postdoctoral training program that offers a choice of research areas to Ph.D.s and to M.D.s with an interest in the diverse area of musculoskeletal tissue repair and regeneration. We offer trainees a broad level of expertise in research and instruction based on the research, educational, and clinical experiences of the faculty who serve as preceptors in this program. Trainees in this program will become expert in their knowledge of bio-matrices and their cell and tissue interactions and will translate molecular principles of cell-matrix and growth factor interactions to the alleviation of human disease, musculoskeletal injuries and tissue regeneration. These themes are ripe for an inventive approach to address challenging issues in a practical way in order to advance technology and fundamental knowledge for future therapeutic applications to musculoskeletal tissues. Training faculty from a variety of departments including Orthopedic Surgery, Biomedical Engineering, Medicine, Neurological Surgery, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, and Surgery will provide the primary research training for postdoctoral trainees recruited into the program. Training faculty research laboratories are well funded and supplemented by a University wide shared instrumentation and core facility system that is supported by the Dean of the School of Medicine. A number of the preceptors have published together and are currently involved in the co-preceptorship of post-doctoral trainees and have current or pending grant applications in which they serve as co-investigators. The areas of research expertise of the faculty preceptors, their research interactions and collaboration, sets them in four thematic groupings: tissue engineering, spine injuries, joint degeneration and macromolecular interactions. Program Administration through the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery will provide the assistance to recruit trainees and to implement the program. Goals of this program are the involvement of trainees in 1) a rigorous initial selection process 2) Development of research skills across traditional departmental boundaries 3) Participation of trainees in the pursuit of funding, presenting at high level scientific meetings and publication of their works as primary authors. The preceptors of this program have demonstrated success at developing scientists for academic research and teaching and it is expected that those trained in this setting are candidates likely to select a career in academia. ? ?
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