Research Training in Muscle Biology of Cardiopulmonary Disease

描述(由申请人提供)： 心肺疾病的进展和治疗干预措施的有效性在很大程度上依赖于心血管和肺系统中心脏、平滑和骨骼肌的反应。这三种肌肉类型对正常的心肺功能都是必不可少的，都在心血管和肺部疾病中发挥关键作用，都是治疗开发的靶点。目前的计划以这一生物医学领域为目标，通过培训博士生和医学生进行心肺疾病背景下的肌肉研究。肯塔基大学(英国)非常适合这个项目。英国是一家公共研究机构，拥有33,692名本科生和研究生，1,920名教职员工，2006年校外研究资助2.9亿美元，以及一个由六所不同的健康相关学院组成的医学中心。最近通过的一项战略计划呼吁通过增加教师、扩大研究生课程和新的研究设施来快速增长英国的研究。在这种充满活力的学术环境中，英国心肺疾病肌肉生物学研究培训计划将建立在机构优势的基础上，为基础研究和翻译研究的职业培训优秀的学生。在高度选择性的审查过程中，项目领导层将确定并招募最合格的申请者参加两个精英项目。来自八个不同博士后项目的研究生将竞争为期两年的全日制博士后奖学金项目。一项类似的竞赛将为为期八周的暑期奖学金项目寻找以研究为导向的医学生。两组学者都将由来自十个基础科学和临床部门的22名教职员工进行指导。多学科指导团队将在心脏、血管顺畅和呼吸骨骼肌生物学的相关领域培训学者。个性化课程将结合课程作业、实验室培训和结构化的临床经验，以实现三个具体目标：1)培养博士前阶段的基础科学家，使他们能够长期从事心肺研究；让医学博士后学生参与暑期实验室体验，激发他们对基础研究和翻译研究的持续兴趣；以及培养优秀的项目教师和博士后学者的指导技能。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The progression of cardiopulmonary disease and the efficacy of therapeutic interventions are critically dependent on the response of cardiac, smooth, and skeletal muscles in the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems. All three muscle types are essential for normal cardiopulmonary function, all three play key roles in cardiovascular and pulmonary disease, and all are targets for therapeutic development. The current program targets this area of biomedicine by training predoctoral and medical students for muscle research in the context of cardiopulmonary disease. The University of Kentucky (UK) is ideally suited for the program. UK is a public research institution with 33,692 undergraduate and graduate students, 1,920 faculty members, extramural research support of $290 million in 2006, and a medical center comprising six different health- related Colleges. A recently-adopted strategic plan calls for rapid growth of UK research via added faculty, expanded graduate programs, and new research facilities. Within this dynamic academic environment, the UK program for Research Training in Muscle Biology of Cardiopulmonary Disease will builds on institutional strengths to train exceptional students for careers in basic and translational research. In a highly-selective vetting process, program leadership will identify and recruit the best-qualified applicants for participation in two elite programs. Graduate students from eight different PhD programs will compete for two-year, full-time appointments in the Postdoctoral Scholar program. A similar competition will identify research-oriented medical students for an eight-week Summer Scholar program. Both groups of Scholars will be mentored by twenty-two faculty members from ten basic science and clinical departments. Multidisciplinary mentoring teams will train Scholars in relevant areas of cardiac, vascular smooth, and respiratory skeletal muscle biology. Individualized curricula will combine coursework, laboratory training, and a structured clinical experience to achieve three specific aims: 1.) To prepare basic scientists at the predoctoral level for successful long-term careers in cardiopulmonary research; 2.) To engage predoctoral medical students in a summer laboratory experience that stimulates ongoing interest in basic and translational research; and 3.) To foster excellence in the mentoring skills of both program faculty and predoctoral scholars.