? There is a tremendous need to increase the number of academic investigators who perform research that will directly impact the care of patients with digestive diseases. This proposal describes the continuation of the combined adult-pediatric Training in Gastroenterology Program that provides multidisciplinary training for postdoctoral scientists in basic research or in clinical/translational research through formal studies in clinical science or epidemiology. This highly focused training program involves 32 funded preceptors (aggregate funding >$30 million direct costs/year) in 10 different academic departments or research centers at Vanderbilt University who have an extensive history of collaboration. All preceptors (31 tenured full or associate professors) have strong records of accomplishment in basic or clinical research related to digestive diseases and a deep commitment to training postdoctoral fellows. In addition to this composite group of training faculty, we have identified 3 junior investigators previously supported by this grant who are expected to develop into preceptors during the next funding period. Dr. Richard Peek, M.D. will continue to serve as Program Director and is well qualified to provide leadership to this program. Dr. Peek is Director of the Division of Adult Gastroenterology and has 14 years of experience studying gastric carcinogenesis. He will be assisted by the co-PI of this grant, Dr. Brent Polk, Director of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and the Digestive Diseases Research Center at Vanderbilt, as well as an Oversight and Selection Committee composed of senior faculty deeply invested in training fellows in this area. ? Postdoctoral trainees will be selected primarily from the pool of fellows accepted into the Adult and Pediatric Gl training programs as well as applicants that apply to individual preceptor laboratories. A multi-faceted recruitment strategy will continue to attract highly qualified individuals from underrepresented minority groups. Basic laboratory research training will be carried out under the direction of a preceptor selected from the trainers included in this application. Clinical epidemiology trainees will be supervised by a clinician-scientist preceptor. An advisory committee will oversee training and provide assistance in research project design for all trainees. In addition to intensive research experiences, trainees will have rigorous didactic course requirements as well as formal mentoring and career guidance. Seven postdoctoral positions and two summer minority positions per year are requested. Lay summary: The goal of this training program is to develop scientists with strong commitments to academic biomedical research in the area of digestive diseases. ? ?
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