This proposal seeks continued support for a training program in Endocrine and Metabolic Research at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) that is presently in its 38th year. The purpose of this program is to prepare qualified trainees for careers as independent investigators in the areas of Diabetes, Obesity, Metabolism and selected aspects of Endocrinology. Training will take place in the Diabetes and Vascular Biology Units, and the sections of Endocrinology, Molecular Medicine, Cardiology and Geriatrics at Boston Medical Center, the Departments of Biochemistry and Physiology-Biophysics at Boston University School of Medicine and the section of Epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health. In addition, there is an NIH-funded General and Clinical Research Center (GCRC) at Boston Medical Center (BMC) in which patients with endocrine and metabolic diseases and hypertension are studied, an Obesity center and a center for the study of Diabetic complications. The 20 senior program faculty are presently investigators on over 80 research grants funded by the NIH or a major foundation, including 49 on which they are principal investigators. Special areas of strength are Diabetes and its vascular complications, Obesity, Insulin secretion and action, Adipose tissue biology and metabolism, and Vitamin D, Calcium and Osteoporosis. The disciplines applied to these areas range from clinical epidemiology to cutting edge cellular and molecular biology. An Executive Committee consisting of the program director, two co-directors and four other investigators in the program, selected on a rotating basis, will choose fellows. Based on our recent experience, approximately half of the pre-doctoral trainees will be M.D. Ph.D. candidates. As before, only M.D. Fellows who choose to enter a program leading to a Ph.D., M.P.H. or another graduate degree, or who have otherwise shown evidence of commitment to an academic career, will be admitted. The pre- and post-doctoral components of the program have successfully met the objectives we set 4 years ago. Because of this, the remarkable growth of research in the Diabetes and Obesity areas at BUSM and the continued high level of applicants, expansion of the present program from 3/3 to 4/4 (pre/post-docs) fellows is requested
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