Training in Advanced Heart Disease Research

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The Smidt Heart Institute (SHI) at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (CSMC) is applying for the second competitive renewal of its postdoctoral Advanced Heart Disease Research Training Program. The objective of this program is to provide outstanding team-mentored training in either basic biomedical, translational or health services research to six postdoctoral fellows (3 per year x 2 years). The goal is to provide trainees with the necessary skills to develop independent and productive academic careers in cardiovascular science. We seek to ensure that all our trainees, be they PhDs, MDs, MD/PhDs or equivalent, develop an in-depth knowledge of the basic science underpinning clinically relevant problems in cardiovascular medicine, as well as a comprehensive understanding of rigorous study design, appropriate methodology, and expert technical execution of basic and clinical studies. This not only provides clinical investigators with the skills they need to properly test hypotheses generated at the basic science level, but also informs basic scientists about the clinical aspects of disease in order to stimulate clinically relevant state-of-the-art investigations in the laboratory. Our training program’s areas of research focus include Cardiac Biology, Arrhythmias, Vascular Biology and Atherosclerosis, Regenerative Medicine, Transplant Immunology, Cardiovascular Imaging, Women’s Health, Community Health, Implementation Science, Precision Medicine, Artificial Intelligence, Proteomics, and Genetics. The Training Program takes full advantage of the unique strengths of CSMC, the largest private teaching hospital west of the Mississippi, which has a longstanding commitment to translational research and to serving the local community. The SHI houses the largest adult heart transplant program in the world, performed an NIH-funded first-in-human trial of cardiac-derived stem cell therapy, and has attracted many NIH-funded basic and translational investigators. Some of these share joint appointments in other CSMC units, which include the Regenerative Medicine Institute, Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, Advanced Clinical Biosystems Institute and the Departments of Biomedical Sciences, Medicine, and Pathology. Trainees receive an intensive research experience in a focused area of investigation, augmented by a formal curriculum that includes both basic and clinical seminars, instruction in grant and manuscript writing, biostatistics, methodology, and ethics. Courses are provided by the Department of Biomedical Sciences, the CSMC Clinical Scholars Program, and a multi-campus NIH CTSA-supported Center for Translational Science Institute (CTSI, includes CSMC, UCLA, Harbor-UCLA, and Charles R. Drew University). The CTSI provides our trainees with privileged access to project seed funds, additional courses in clinical research design, methodology and biostatistics, UCLA degree programs in public health and clinical research, and tools for conducting the entire range of studies from bench to bedside to community. In summary, we have designed a program that provides in-depth training in critical areas of cardiovascular science within an environment that champions translational research and clinical excellence.