This application is a competing renewal application for a T35 summer medical student training program in environmental health sciences research that has been funded by NIEHS for 10 years. The 2 specific aims are: 1) To provide hands-on training in basic and clinical environmental health-based research to medical students in a structured mentored environment; and 2) To provide an interactive, educational experience that introduces medical students the fundamental skills necessary for basic, translational, and clinical environmental health-based research. A new feature (Distinction in Research Track) proposed will enhance training for the students to function as environmental health sciences specialists in an Academic Health Center setting. The program has supported the training of 6 second year-medical students each summer in environmental health sciences research topics, including environmental cardiology, environmental metabolic disease, and environmental pulmonary disease, with a particular focus on diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, obesity and hormonal regulation of metabolism. Trainees can choose from research projects submitted by 23 mentors in the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, and Public Health (ranking them 1-5 for interest) and are selected from the top half of the first year medical class at UofL for appointment to the T35 Training grant. A successful effort has been made to recruit students from ethnic minorities and disadvantaged backgrounds. During the 11-week summer training, students work with mentors on their research project in clinical or laboratory settings and complete training in the Responsible Conduct of Research (including topics on fabrication and falsification of data, plagiarism, managing scientific data, publication practices and responsible authorship, mentorship, stewardship, and conflict of interest). Trainees working with human subjects complete human subject and IRB training prior to beginning their research. Likewise, trainees who will use vertebrate animals in their research are required to complete a training course for animal research. All trainees will attend a weekly Environmental Health Sciences Conference designed to introduce clinical and translational research in environmental health sciences to T35 trainees. The conference culminates with each Trainee presenting his/her research project to peers and mentors. Trainees also present the results of their research as posters with peers at a School of Medicine week-long celebration of research that includes nationally recognized physician scientists as keynote speakers. Training in the NIEHS T35 program will encourage students to participate in the new Distinction in Research (DIR) Track in the Medical School for a continued longitudinal research experience in years 2-4 of medical training which allows them to develop research-oriented skills and to complete a translational research project in the third/fourth years. Publication of peer-reviewed articles, as some have achieved, will serve as outcomes of DIR training, as well as the strength of residency training and first/future permanent positions.
This NIEHS Short-Term Institutional Training Grant (5T35ES014559) application is to request annual support for 6 medical student trainees for a 10-week training experience for the next 5 years. The overarching scientific theme of research that links the faculty to this T35 Training Grant is the common interest of the faculty in research training of medical students in the investigators' laboratories in elucidating the health outcomes of exposure of normal and obese individuals to various environmental or common chemicals in the environment. In addition, the investigators will use the T35 Training Grant to entice our medical students into their new Distinction in Research Track, designed to allow students to pursue research interests throughout the 2-4 years of Medical School curriculum with an eye toward building a pipeline of diverse translational clinician-researchers in the future.
| Hardesty, Josiah E; Al-Eryani, Laila; Wahlang, Banrida et al. (2018) Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Signaling Disruption by Endocrine and Metabolic Disrupting Chemicals. Toxicol Sci 162:622-634 |
| Jin, Lexiao; Lipinski, Alexandra; Conklin, Daniel J (2018) A Simple Method for Normalization of Aortic Contractility. J Vasc Res 55:177-186 |
| Al-Eryani, Laila; Waigel, Sabine; Jala, Venkatakrishna et al. (2017) Cell cycle pathway dysregulation in human keratinocytes during chronic exposure to low arsenite. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 331:130-134 |
| Hardesty, Josiah E; Wahlang, Banrida; Falkner, K Cameron et al. (2017) Polychlorinated biphenyls disrupt hepatic epidermal growth factor receptor signaling. Xenobiotica 47:807-820 |
| McClain, Craig; Vatsalya, Vatsalya; Cave, Matthew (2017) Role of Zinc in the Development/Progression of Alcoholic Liver Disease. Curr Treat Options Gastroenterol 15:285-295 |
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| Cave, Matthew C; Clair, Heather B; Hardesty, Josiah E et al. (2016) Nuclear receptors and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Biochim Biophys Acta 1859:1083-1099 |
| Anders, Lisanne C; Lang, Anna L; Anwar-Mohamed, Anwar et al. (2016) Vinyl Chloride Metabolites Potentiate Inflammatory Liver Injury Caused by LPS in Mice. Toxicol Sci 151:312-23 |
| Guardiola, John J; Beier, Juliane I; Falkner, K Cameron et al. (2016) Occupational exposures at a polyvinyl chloride production facility are associated with significant changes to the plasma metabolome. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 313:47-56 |
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