Research Training in Microbial Diseases

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of the Research Training Program in Microbial Diseases is to produce outstanding independent biomedical investigators equipped with the expertise to address critical questions and unresolved issues in infectious diseases research. A major strength of our program is its multidisciplinary nature, combining faculty and resources from multiple departments of the School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health who share an interest in infectious diseases research and have collaborated extensively over the past 5 years. Post-doctoral fellows are trained intensively in a single area in clinical, translational or basic science investigation at a domestic or international training site with exposure to infectious diseases research in a variety of other disciplines. Forty-one training faculty, 14 primarily in basic science investigation and 27 clinical investigators, have been selected for the strength of their research programs, level of extramural research support, prior experience in training biomedical scientists and their potential for contributing to interactive research training. The trainee's research training is supplemented with coursework, participation in select conferences, training in grant preparation and biomedical ethics as well as research presentation skills including research seminars, and presentations at scientific meetings. The current funding period supported the training of 15 fellows, 6 of whom remain in training. Six program graduates have full-time academic positions in infectious diseases and two are directing clinical investigation in industry. One trainee is a clinician-educator. Overall, these trainees secured 5 'K' mentored new investigator awards. Fourteen of the 15 fellows supported to date in this grant period have submitted or published a total of 94 manuscripts or chapters including 66 peer-reviewed publications based on the research training obtained under this T32 award. Since 1996, 34 of the 37 graduates (92%) of the Infectious Diseases research training program of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have academic appointments; 29 of these 34 are active infectious diseases investigators in University (N=24), government (N=2) or industry (N=3) positions. Five graduates are engaged in academic clinical practice. Approximately 75% of the graduates of the Infectious Diseases research training program since 1996 have been awarded independent research funds; the majority (>80%) from the NIH or other federal sources. Given these data and successes, we request support for 8 post-doctoral training positions. These grant funds provide a core of essential support for our Infectious Diseases research training program involving at least 10 MD or MD-PhD fellows annually.