This is an application to re-establish a mentored training program for pediatric subspecialty fellows interested in research careers involving basic or translational research. The program offers a 2-year experience dedicated to training in cell/molecular biology or translational research that is relevant to child health for 4 fellows per year and is designed to serve as a launch for a career that ultimately as an NIH R01-funded pediatric physician scientist. One of the key features of this program is that is can be used for training of fellows in a number of subspecialties within the Department of Pediatrics of the University of Pittsburgh that do not have a T32 grant (Allergy/Immunology; Cardiology; Genetics; Hematology/Oncology; Infectious Diseases; Newborn Medicine; Pulmonology). Thus, it can maximize the extramural support by targeting the most talented fellows and matching them with outstanding mentors. The mentoring faculty includes 25 outstanding researchers who have a distinguished record of research contributions and mentoring. The philosophical emphasis of this mentoring experience is fundamentals of the scientific method combined with the highest standard of excellence for rigor and integrity because we believe these are the characteristics of the training experience that are most likely to lead to a long successful career Each of the Scholars is expected to carry out a challenging research project in the laboratory of one of the faculty mentors leading to publications as well as an application for their own K08, K23 or K99/R00 grant. The Department of Pediatrics at Pitt has one of the fastest growing pediatric research programs in the country and is based on a new Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC campus with the new 300,000-square-foot CHP Rangos Pediatric Research Building. Based on these characteristics and our previous training results, we believe that this program provides a powerful team of mentors and intellectually-rich environment that will inspire pediatric subspecialty fellows and provide them with the background to become successful child health researchers.
All of the training experiences in this program involve research on mechanisms of human diseases including neurodevelopmental disorders, inborn errors of metabolism, congenital anomalies, infections, shock, cancer, cystic fibrosis, hypertensive kidney disease, transplant tolerance, immune disorders, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes and disorders of the premature newborn.
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