Training in Cardiovascular Research

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PROJECT ABSTRACT Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. There is an ongoing need to provide multidisciplinary training for physician and PhD investigators who will devote a significant component of their professional activity to understanding the pathophysiology and treatment of cardiovascular disease. This is the 7th renewal application for the University of Utah (UofU) Cardiovascular Research Training Program. Since its inception in 1984, this program has trained 113 individuals who have largely gone on to pursue research careers. During the last training period (2016-2020), this training grant supported 21 post-doctoral research trainees (5 MD/DOs, 16 PhDs) who all remain active at academic institutions. Our trainees have authored 218 publications, with an average of 2 first-author publications each. They have also received several grants and career development awards (e.g. NIH, American Heart Association, NSF, ACS). This program continues to build on our unique strengths in cardiovascular research at the UofU, spanning basic and mechanistic investigation across a range of model systems and translational studies in humans. This training program unifies the three major cardiovascular research centers at the UofU Health Sciences Center: The Nora Eccles Harrison Cardiovascular Research and Training Institute (CVRTI), the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the School of Medicine, and the Molecular Medicine Program (U2M2) at the Eccles Institute of Human Genetics. This training program spans 13 UofU departments and includes 54 well-funded faculty mentors who lead exciting and productive cardiovascular research programs. Each trainee will participate in a two-year training program that includes a research project with a multidisciplinary mentoring committee, didactic coursework, and professional development opportunities. With this renewal application, we continue to request support to prepare 8 postdoctoral trainees to be leaders in cardiovascular research. The next stage of the training program will utilize an expanded mentor pool and implement a dual-leadership structure by two cardiology physician- scientists (MPIs: Stavros Drakos, MD, PhD, and Robin Shaw, MD, PhD) whose interests span from basic biochemistry to clinical trials. This renewal occurs at a time with the UofU is increasing its already sizeable investment into cardiovascular research training. A $6M addition to the CVRTI is being constructed to increase the number of cardiovascular research laboratories in an institute already fully dedicated to cardiovascular research and training. Also there is a campus-wide Cardiovascular Strategic Plan being implemented to enhance cardiovascular research and care and the UofU. The next five years of the training program will leverage these new resources and opportunities at the UofU and represents a new era of interdisciplinary collaborative cardiovascular research at our institution.