The aim of our interdisciplinary Institutional Training Program, based at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and The University of Pennsylvania (Penn), is to train MD and PhD post-doctoral fellows in research focused on Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (NDD). The rationale for this NDD T32 program is three-fold. First, ~10% of households in the United States live with an individual with a neurodevelopmental disability; thus, these disorders are a significant financial and emotional burden in our society. Second, the causes of neurodevelopmental disability range from genetic to acquired insults; this necessitates an interdisciplinary approach. Finally, there is substantial overlap of symptoms amongst the various neurodevelopmental disorders, suggesting overlapping mechanisms. Trainees and their mentors use state-of-the-art techniques, including genetic, cellular/molecular, behavioral, and structural/dynamic imaging to pursue basic and translational research related to these disorders. Twenty-seven mentors help support the careers of the trainees. There is a high degree of collaboration among the mentors and trainees with shared publications and grants. In addition to mentored research training, our curriculum emphasizes: 1) a clinical practicum requirement for both MDs and PhDs, 2) formal course work through Penn Graduate Studies Program, 3) training in responsible conduct of research, 4) training in biostatistics and rigor and reproducibility, 5) grants club, and 6) forums that teach a variety of important survival skills, including scientific writing, public presentations, grant writing, laboratory management, mentoring skills, and becoming knowledgeable about career options. During the first 19 years of the NDD T32 program, we have enrolled 46 trainees; 5 are MDs, 4 are MD/PhDs, and 37 are PhDs. Thirty-two (69%) of these trainees are female and 10 (22%) of these trainees are from under-represented minority groups. Thirty-three different NDD T32 mentors have supervised trainees. Of the 36 who have completed training, 16 are in faculty positions, 2 are in instructor positions, 4 are senior research scientists at pharmaceutical companies, 3 are scientific administrators, 2 work in Clinical Genomics, 4 are in clinical practice, 1 is a lecturer, and 3 are senior scientists in academia. We request continued support for 6 postdoctoral fellows/year who participate in a program that is designed to be 3 years in length. This number of trainees allows us to maintain a critical mass to support a diverse trainee pool that can learn from one another and is easily justified by the large number of outstanding trainees who seek admission. This NDD T32 program continuously evolves. A Grants Club and closer monitoring a trainee progress were implemented in the most recent funding period; a new workshop focused on techniques with a focus on rigor/reproducibility will start in the Fall of 2017. This program combines the outstanding CHOP/Penn training environment, an exceptional cadre of trainees and mentors, and substantial institutional resources for research and training in neurodevelopmental disabilities to fuel a true ?bench to bedside? approach to translational research.
! It has been estimated that developmental disabilities affect 10% of all families in the USA. Researchers are urgently needed who are willing and able to apply cutting-edge research methods to elucidate the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of these disorders, so that new and more effective therapeutic interventions can be identified. This program strives to fill this need, and has been successful thus far in training 46 young researchers in research that will advance our understanding of developmental disabilities.
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