UT Gastroenterology/Hepatology Research Training Program

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Training in the UT Gastroenterology/Hepatology Research Training Program takes place in the laboratories of the Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases and in the laboratories of several basic science departments at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the Dallas Veteran's Affairs Medical Center campuses. Under the direction of Drs. John M. Dietschy, Stuart J. Spechler and Dwain L. Thiele, applicants are carefully screened and interviewed. Each successful applicant will undertake a major research project for two to four years under the direct supervision of one or more members of the Senior Research Faculty. In addition, each trainee will have close interactions with other Senior Research Faculty and with members of various basic science departments. The projects that are ongoing in the laboratories of these faculty members are very diverse and involve a wide variety of techniques in cellular and molecular biology. Representative projects include detailed studies into the nature of alternative biochemical pathways for the biosynthesis of bile acids, the role of orphan nuclear receptors in the control of bile acid synthesis and sterol transport, an analysis of new treatments for hepatitis C, the role of cytotoxic lymphocytes in diseases such as hepatitis and inflammatory bowel disease and the role of newly described cholesterol 24 hydroxylase and the ABCA1 protein in biliary cholesterol secretion. Initially all trainees attend formal lectures in the performance of ethical biological research and, throughout the year, participate in regular research conferences and clinical conferences in the division. In addition, there is a two-year cycle of lectures devoted to the physiology, molecular biology and cell biology of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract. Throughout this two to four year course of intense research work, the trainees will learn to utilize a variety of basic laboratory procedures common to molecular and cell biology. If the trainee is engaged in clinical investigation, he/she will participate in a year long formal course in various aspects of human research. The progress of all trainees is monitored on a regular basis and, at the end of this intense period of research, each trainee will also have the opportunity of completing his/her clinical training. There are formal courses in the use of animals in medical research and in the special problems of ethical human investigation. There is an active program for recruiting underrepresented minorities.