Cross-Disciplinary Training Program in Transplant Research

描述（由申请人提供）：这是实验室移植生物学博士后T32培训资助的竞争性续签申请。实体器官移植是治疗因肾、心、肝、肺等器官疾病引起的终末期衰竭的理想方法。尽管对所有实体器官移植受者的护理有了显着改善，但长期同种异体移植物存活率仍然不理想。类似地，骨髓移植是恶性血液病的有效疗法，但急性（和慢性）移植物抗宿主病经常发生并导致显著的发病率。此外，虽然科学进步增加了知识，但移植物丢失（和GVHD）的原因仅部分了解，可靠的耐受性诱导方案仍然难以捉摸，并且将可用信息转化为患者的有用诊断，预防和治疗方式的能力有限。为了继续改善人类移植结果，从而改善所有移植受者的长期健康，移植研究必须保持领先地位，下一代医生/科学家必须拥有适当的知识基础和技能，以继续推动该领域的发展。由于移植是一个涉及多个医学，外科和基础病理学/免疫学主题的跨学科领域，我们认为有效的培训环境必须是跨学科的。因此，这个培训计划的目标是使用一个互动，协作， 跨学科的方法来培养有才华的年轻医生科学家（MD和MD博士）或博士科学家在实验室为基础的，调查，移植免疫生物学研究的成功职业生涯。为了支持更新申请，该培训方案的初始供资期成功地实现了促进移植受训人员，特别是代表性不足的少数群体的职业生涯的关键目标。我们提交这一竞争性更新补助金申请的理由包括：1）持续需要改善实体器官或造血细胞移植后的结果，2）我们强烈希望继续对移植领域未来研究人员的教育产生影响，以及3）我们相信拟议的培训师小组将提供多样化的基础和 移植领域的转化科学机会，由旨在培训和培养年轻移植研究人员走向独立的既定基础设施支持。我们有一个多元化和资金充足的教师，对移植感兴趣，并有一个强大的学员库，其中包括大量代表性不足的少数民族。该计划由P Heeger监督，他是公认的和有成就的临床和基础医生科学家，具有重要的博士后培训和教育经验。该计划的目的是支持实验室为基础的培训，由个别导师进行移植医学/生物学研究。跨学科计划补充了移植科学的重要教学培训， 基金的撰写、手稿的准备和职业发展，以优化移植领域独立学术研究人员的发展。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is a competing renewal application for a postdoctoral T32 training grant in laboratory-based transplantation biology. Solid organ transplantation is the ideal therapy for end stage failure due to kidney, heart, liver, and lung, disease, among other organs. Despite significant improvements in the care of all solid organ transplant recipients long term allograft survival remains suboptimal. Analogously, bone marrow transplantation is an effective therapy for hematologic malignancies, but acute (and chronic) graft versus host disease occurs commonly and causes significant morbidity. Moreover, while scientific progress has increased knowledge, the causes of graft loss (and GVHD) are only partially understood, reliable tolerance induction protocols remain elusive, and the ability to translate what information is available into useful diagnostic, preventive and treatment modalities in patients has been limited. To continue to improve transplant outcomes in humans and as a consequence, improve the long term health of all transplant recipients, research in transplantation must remain cutting edge, and the next generation of physicians/scientists must have the appropriate knowledge base and skills to continue to drive the field forward. Because transplantation is a cross disciplinary field involving multiple medical, surgical, and basic pathology/immunology themes, we believe an effective training environment must be cross-disciplinary. Thus, the objective of this training program is to use an interactive, collaborative, cross-disciplinary approach to train talented young physician-scientists (MD and MD PhD) or PhD-scientists for a successful career in laboratory based, investigative, transplantation immunobiology research. In support of the renewal application, the initial funding period of this training program has been successful in accomplishing the key aim of fostering the careers of trainees in transplantation, in particular, underrepresented minorities. Our rationales for submitting this competitive renewal grant application include: 1) the continued need for improving outcomes following solid organ or hematopoietic cell transplantation, 2) our strong desire to continue to have an impact on the education of future investigators in the field of transplantation, and 3) our belief that the proposed group of trainers will offer diverse basic and translational scientific opportunities within the field of transplantation supported by an established infrastructure designed for training and nurturing young transplant researchers toward independence. We have a diverse and well funded faculty with an interest in transplantation and a strong pool of trainees that includes significant numbers of underrepresented minorities. The program is overseen by P Heeger, who is well recognized and accomplished clinical and basic physician scientist with significant postdoctoral training, and educational, experience. The program is designed to support laboratory based training by individual mentors performing research in transplantation medicine/biology. The cross disciplinary program is supplemented with significant didactic training in transplantation science, grant writing, manuscript preparation and career development so as to optimize the development of independent academic researchers in the transplant field.