This is a competitive renewal for a postdoctoral training grant (5 T32 HL07792) for M.D. and Ph.D. fellows studying the pathophysiotogical mechanisms leading to development of hypertension, renal and vascular disease. Training focuses on clinical and basic (mechanistic) aspects of abnormal vascular regulation in disease states with a major focus on hypertension. Skills which will be developed include: fundamental and advanced understanding of genetics, molecular biology, analytical chemistry, in-vivo animal models, in-vitro techniques for determination of mechanisms of vascular and cardiac muscle activation, cell biology, etectrophysiology (including patch-clamping of ion channels and organ and whole animal electrophysiological techniques), in-vivo blood flow techniques, radiographic techniques including digital x-ray and fMRI, and microscopic techniques such as confocal microscopy. Along with these basic techniques, specialty clinical techniques will be taught depending upon discipline and interest. The Medical College of Wisconsin provides state-of-the-art facilities for this training program, and all mentors have current NIH funding. The inter-departmental environment of the MCW Cardiovascular Research Center provides exceptional opportunities for scientific crossfertilization and interdepartmental contacts. During the initial four years of this grant four M.D. and four Ph.D. fellows were trained, and an additional M.D. fellow was funded by a minority supplement. During the last four years of this grant, five M.D. and ten Ph.D. fellows were trained or remain in the training program, along with one M.D., Ph.D. fellow. Most trainees remain in the program for two years. The quality of fellows and training within the program is exceptional as evidenced by the ability of the trainees to obtain individual training grants and to receive advanced academic degrees. The trainees also have a high level of productivity as evidenced by the more than twenty peer-reviewed publications. We have been fortunate in our ability to attract quality applicants, and we have had many more applicants than positions available. The proposed continuation of this program will continue to provide a unique and state-of-the-art training opportunity for our fellows. We will stress, even more strongly, translational and integrative research in which fellows will translate cellular and molecular data with respect to their physiological function at the organ, experimental and human level. We have added new mentors to the program who will facilitate these objectives. The continued funding of the MCW General Clinical Research Center will greatly augment the ability of our fellows to translate their basic research findings into clinically relevant scenarios. We are encouraged by the success of the training program thus far and the number of high quality applicants in our pools, so we are therefore requesting that the number of slots be increased from five to nine.
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