RESEARCH TRAINING IN PEDIATRIC GASTROENTEROLOGY

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This is the first renewal application of a training program designed to produce investigators at the cutting edge of basic research in the area of pediatric gastroenterology. Trainees will all be at the postdoctoral level and will be a mixture of M.D.'s and Ph.D.'s, supported for 33 months and two years, respectively. To allow recruitment of one new M.D. and Ph.D. trainee each year, a total of three M.D. stipends (one each in their first, second and third years of support) and two Ph.D. stipends (one each in their first and second years of support) are requested For all trainees, the program places strong emphasis on molecular biology, the rationale being that molecular approaches already have become increasingly important in both investigation and treatment of diseases associated with pediatric gastroenterology. The mentors (five M.D.'s and five Ph.D.'s) represent a multidisciplinary group of experienced scientists from various departments at Baylor. All work on questions that are important to pediatric gastroenterology. Eight of the 10 mentors currently work at the molecular level and the remaining two are moving in that laboratories are well equipped and well funded and are within a 10-minute w~ of each other. All 10 faculty members are already associated with the program and have excellent track records of interaction and participation. The program has dual leadership: the Program Director, who maintains ultimate authority, and a Director of Research, who manages the day-to-day operations. Major administrative decisions (e.g., selection of trainees) are handled by an executive committee comprising six of the mentors (three M.D.'s, three Ph.D.'s). An advisory committee of senior faculty not associated with this grant meets annually to critique the program. The training program for M.D. fellows includes research rotations to facilitate selection of a mentor, an individual research committee, a written research proposal which has to be defended to that committee, and periodic reviews of progress. Trainees will be selected from a highly competitive applicant pool that already exists at Baylor College of Medicine. To date, the training program has been particularly successful in recruitment and retention of minority candidates. This will continue to be a priority of the program.