The T32-funded Cardiovascular Training Program at UT Southwestern has a long and illustrious history of fostering emergence of capable and productive investigators ideally positioned for independence and success. Indeed, our Program has an impressive track record, producing a large number of capable researchers who continue to have substantial impact. Over this period, our institution and the Division of Cardiology have evolved from a research emphasis heavily weighted towards basic science to one that now includes broad strength and representation in translational science, clinical trials, population-based research, and health services and outcomes research. The notification that our T32 competitive renewal did not meet criteria for refunding led us to critically examine all aspects of our program, to tear it down completely, and to rebuild it from scratch. Our new T32 application, while building on the strengths of our highly successful prior program, has been completely redesigned to address several important issues. Among the changes we have made include markedly reducing the number of trainees and restricting our program to postdoctoral fellows. The program is now evenly balanced between basic and clinical/translational research. The mentor pool has been modified substantially to include robust NIH-funded mentors in ancillary departments and to remove investigators who were not sufficiently productive or well funded. We have substantially enhanced our use of individualized development plans (IDPs). Our administrative structure has been redesigned to enhance oversight, to create a more unified institutional home for trainees, and to markedly strengthen bi-directional and ongoing evaluation of the trainees, mentors, and the training program. We have enhanced infrastructure support, including biostatistical support and assistance with IRB submissions. Also, multiple new initiatives have been implemented for female trainees. Our Cardiovascular Training Program is just that, a training program, and not a funding mechanism. Our primary objective is to develop the next generation of transformative cardiovascular investigators by recruiting highly talented and motivated individuals and preparing them for success in an increasingly competitive and resource-challenged environment. A secondary objective is to expand the cadre of women and minorities pursuing careers in cardiovascular research. Our faculty is diverse, spanning a spectrum of expertise from molecule to cell, organ system, organism, and population. Members of our faculty are distributed across the full spectrum of faculty rank, gender, and ethnic background. In summary, our Program is designed to foster the emergence of the next generation of investigators, teachers, and mentors at a time when the need for such has never been greater.

Public Health Relevance

The need for new discoveries in cardiovascular medicine has never been greater. To address this urgent issue, we are training the next generation of rigorously prepared cardiovascular investigators, both scientists and physicians. We provide a comprehensive program of education, mentoring, oversight, and feedback designed explicitly to help meet the cardiovascular healthcare needs of the future.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Type
Institutional National Research Service Award (T32)
Project #
1T32HL125247-01A1
Application #
8935548
Study Section
NHLBI Institutional Training Mechanism Review Committee (NITM)
Program Officer
Wang, Wayne C
Project Start
2015-07-01
Project End
2020-06-30
Budget Start
2015-07-01
Budget End
2016-06-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Texas Sw Medical Center Dallas
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
800771545
City
Dallas
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
75390
Angraal, Suveen; Khera, Rohan; Zhou, Shengfan et al. (2018) Trends in 30-Day Readmission Rates for Medicare and Non-Medicare Patients in the Era of the Affordable Care Act. Am J Med 131:1324-1331.e14
Khera, Rohan; Pandey, Ambarish; Chandar, Apoorva K et al. (2018) Effects of Weight-Loss Medications on Cardiometabolic Risk Profiles: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis. Gastroenterology 154:1309-1319.e7
Khera, Rohan; Hong, Jonathan C; Saxena, Anshul et al. (2018) Burden of Catastrophic Health Expenditures for Acute Myocardial Infarction and Stroke Among Uninsured in the United States. Circulation 137:408-410
Khera, Rohan; Horwitz, Leora I; Lin, Zhenqiu et al. (2018) Publicly Reported Readmission Measures and the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program: A False Equivalence? Ann Intern Med 168:670-671
Khera, Rohan; CarlLee, Sheena; Blevins, Amy et al. (2018) Early coronary angiography and survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Open Heart 5:e000809
Jain, Snigdha; Khera, Rohan; Mortensen, Eric M et al. (2018) Readmissions of adults within three age groups following hospitalization for pneumonia: Analysis from the Nationwide Readmissions Database. PLoS One 13:e0203375
Khera, Rohan; Jain, Snigdha; Pandey, Ambarish et al. (2017) Comparison of Readmission Rates After Acute Myocardial Infarction in 3 Patient Age Groups (18 to 44, 45 to 64, and ?65 Years) in the United States. Am J Cardiol 120:1761-1767
Tong, Carl W; Madhur, Meena S; Rzeszut, Anne K et al. (2017) Status of Early-Career Academic Cardiology: A Global Perspective. J Am Coll Cardiol 70:2290-2303
Jain, Snigdha; Khera, Rohan; Girotra, Saket et al. (2017) Comparative Effectiveness of Pharmacologic Interventions for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis. Chest 151:90-105
Khera, Rohan; Krumholz, Harlan M (2017) With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Big Data Research From the National Inpatient Sample. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 10:

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