Transplant Surgery Scientist Training Program

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The unprecedented growth in transplant surgery in the United States requires that a new generation of M.D./Ph.D. investigators be trained in transplant-related basic and clinical/translational sciences. This application proposes to develop a training program that combines mentorship from an outstanding faculty with an integrated didactic and research program. To achieve these objectives, we focused on the following goals: 1) to provide stipend support for trainees; 2) to provide mentorship by senior investigators; 3) to protect trainees from clinical activities that compete for their time; 4) to sustain an administrative structure that expands the ethnic diversity and quality of the candidate pool; 5) to provide both basic and clinical science trainees a rigorous base of classroom study in the disciplines necessary for successfully conducting transplant-related research; and 6) to continue an ongoing evaluation process for determining whether or not the program is meeting its goals and objectives. One pre-doctoral and two post-doctoral M.D./Ph.D. trainees will be enrolled in the first two years. However, in expectation of the program's success, the number of positions will be expanded during years 3 through 5 to 2 pre-doctoral and 3 postdoctoral trainees/year. A major objective of the proposal is to attract trainees to transplant-related research from a number of diverse disciplines within the University and medical school. Thus, the scope of the current list of mentors runs the gamut of topics from the basic science of transplant biology to patient care. An outstanding group of mentors will provide trainees opportunities in transplant-related basic science and clinical research tracks. The basic science track will take advantage of mentors within the medical school along with faculty in biomedical engineering, materials science, and chemistry laboratories already involved in transplant surgery research. Clinical research trainees will draw from databases of three national multicenter research studies in transplant surgery (A2ALL, CTOT, and CITR). Candidates will benefit from tuition payment during pre-doctoral years and fees required to enroll and successfully complete the University's Master of Public Health or Master of Science in Clinical Investigation degree programs. The initiation of the program comes at a time of substantial growth in the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, thus making this an ideal site for this T32 NRSA award for research in transplant surgery sciences.