Training in Investigative Dermatology

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PROJECT SUMMARY This T32 competitive renewal application from the Yale Department of Dermatology proposes to continue its strong track record of training future leaders in academic dermatology. Of the 32 trainees who were supported by this T32 program during the past 15 years of funding and who have completed their subspecialty and/or research training, 22 (>60%) are currently in full-time academic positions, and 13 are actively engaged in substantive basic and/or clinical investigation, while 9 others are full-time clinician- educators at Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern, and OSHU. Emphasis will be maintained on this program developing the research and critical thinking skills of MD and MD/PhD dermatologists, although PhD candidates with significant potential to make substantive contributions to translational and molecular cutaneous biology will also be sought out for consideration. We also propose in the next period to capitalize upon the experience of our faculty in training talented MD/PhD and PhD pre-doctoral students who now populate T32 training programs across the country, including our own. The currently identified training faculty for this renewal consists of thirty-two individuals with broad-ranging expertise in cutaneous biology and substantive previous mentoring experience. 27 are R01-funded “Primary Mentors/Preceptors” (8 with faculty appointments in Dermatology and 19 with appointments in nine other departments). All are established mentors and conducting cutting-edge research collectively encompassing a substantial portion of cellular and molecular biology. However, trainees are not restricted to these currently identified mentors as research project preceptors; they are strongly encouraged to look broadly throughout the university for mentors whose laboratories would provide them with the best opportunities to further develop and refine their research and critical thinking skills. Qualifications for being a primary mentor include current R01 level sfunding, a documented previous track record as a successful mentor, and approval by this program's Executive Committee. Because we consider it most conducive to the trainees' development of intellectual independence and to the introduction of new scientific skills into dermatology, substantial exposure to outstanding investigators outside our own department will continue to be emphasized. As in past funding periods, each trainee will have two mentors, one inside and one outside of Dermatology. Typically, the Primary Mentor/PI is based is outside the department, and the Dermatology faculty secondary advisor serves as an additional monitor of the trainee's progress to help ensure that her/his career trajectory stays on course. 17 Dermatology faculty members have been designated as potenital “Secondary Mentors/Advisors” including physician- scientists as well as those that are principally clinically oriented or have yet to fully establish their indendent research programs. 4 individuals have been identified as junior faculty with demonstrated abilities to obtain peer-reviewed funding and outstanding potential to become primary mentors within the next funding cycle.