Training in functional lipidomics in cardiovascular and respiratory diseases

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Proposed herein is a training program - Lipid Signaling and Functional Lipidomics in Cardiovascular and Respiratory Diseases (LCRD) - for MD/PhD students and postdoctoral fellows at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine. The LCRD training program is an outgrowth of VCU's long history of innovative cardiovascular research combined with our strength in lipid metabolism, signaling, and functional lipidomics. New scientists are needed in the area of lipid signaling and functions in heart, respiratory, and cardiovascular disorders because future success in prevention and treatment of these increasingly important human diseases will require sophisticated understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved and the use of molecular biology, genomic and bioinformatics technology, as well as the new technology of lipidomics/metabolomics. The goal of the program is to provide exceptional interdisciplinary training in preparation for careers as independent investigators dedicated to biomedical research in heart, lung, and blood disorders. This interdepartmental training program is directed individually by highly qualified research advisors, including several MD and MD/PhD mentors who serve as outstanding role models, and overall by a program steering committee, which has two members who ran highly successful longstanding MD/PhD programs. Hence, LCRD trainees will benefit from an extended network of mentors, including members of their individual trainee advisory committees and the LCRD Steering Committee. Training includes rigorous laboratory research, seminars, advanced courses, biweekly LCRD Colloquium, and annual LCRD Research Retreat. A major strength is the quality of the research programs of the 22 well-funded program faculty members from five departments who have productive, energetic, and collaborative research efforts in many areas of relevant to thematic focus of this program. Trainees benefit from vigorous faculty involvement, experiences in communication of their work, and excellent core facilities, including state of the art lipidomics/metabolomics, all of which provide a superb environment for training the next generations of cardiovascular and pulmonary investigators who will make basic biomedical discoveries and translate them into better patient outcomes.