Training Grant in Transfusion Medicine

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is a revised NRSA application (T32 HL69769) requesting salary support for a Transfusion Medicine Program (TMP) Research Fellowship at Emory University. If funded, this grant would provide salary support for post-doctoral fellows to participate in a two-year, intensive laboratory experience in transfusion medicine research. The program, which would enroll one fellow per year for a 5-year period, aims to fill the acknowledged need for basic, translational, and interdisciplinary research training in transfusion medicine. Such training is needed to develop future specialists in transfusion and transplantation research in order to contribute to the further growth and research development of the specialty and its ability to contribute to other fields of research and clinical practice. Program strengths previously identified include: the Principal Investigator/Program Director; the organization of the training plan as a small-scale program emphasizing high-quality candidates and research projects; the involvement of senior faculty with strong scientific, funding, and training records; and the provision of specific mechanisms for educating fellows and externally evaluating the training program. We have improved upon the 2 areas of weakness identified in the earlier submission by: 1) revising Table II, Appendix I to more clearly represent faculty training histories; and 2) addressing the "youth" of the transfusion medicine program by reinforcing the oversight to be provided by the External Advisory Board. To further underscore the program's commitment to providing direct personal effort in training post-doctoral research fellows, the faculty mentors have been limited to only those with significant funding and proven track records in training early-career investigators. To emphasize the translational and interdisciplinary nature of transfusion medicine research, the program units have been slightly revised as follows: 1) Transfusion- and transplantation-transmitted pathogens; 2) Basic transfusion and transplantation immunology; and 3) Stem and somatic cell transplantation. We are appreciative to the reviewers for the many positive and constructive comments, and note that no other department, division, or program at Emory provides research training in transfusion medicine, and no other funds for such training are available.