Yale Interdisciplinary Bioengineering Training Grant for Diabetes Research

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We propose the development of an interdisciplinary training program to prepare bioengineers for careers as independent researchers in diabetes. The long-term goal of this program is to foster the career development of biomedical engineers in interdisciplinary research related to diabetes. This program will build on Yale's considerable experience in the training of biomedical engineers, which will be coupled with world-leading programs in diabetes research. This application requests postdoctoral stipends for five postdoctoral (MD, PhD, or MD/PhD) fellows per year. This request is based on several factors: 1) The ongoing critical need for bioengineering scientists dedicated to studying diabetes. 2) The expanded opportunities afforded by our interdisciplinary training faculty. 3) The increase in the number of medical residents with engineering backgrounds. 4) The high quality of biomedical engineers applying to Yale postdoctoral programs. Our experience in interdisciplinary training indicates that three or more years of research training are needed for fellows to develop the skills needed for independent research. We believe a program specifically dedicated to introducing engineers to cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research in diabetes will lead to the development of scientists ready to build impactful research programs in diabetes. This program will have several key components: (1) Recruitment of bioengineering postdoctoral fellows with interests in diabetes. (2) Matching fellows with superb research mentors. (3) Participation of fellows in research projects with co-mentors in bioengineering and diabetes research. (4) Participation in a core didactic research curriculum. (5) Critical and rigorous scholar and program evaluation. (6) Establishment of a career guidance program. While enrolled in the program, postdoctoral fellows will have 80% of their time specifically dedicated to research, and support will be provided for 3 years. The focus of this program will be on bioengineering training, which has been identified as an area where diabetes scientists are greatly needed. To achieve these goals, we will take advantage of several established programs at Yale specifically designed for training in diabetes. Potential mentors have good NIH support and a proven record of training fellows in diabetes or biomedical engineering. Please see the required T32-related supporting tables. Table 1 lists participating departments; Table 2 lists mentors and rank; Table 3 lists mentor department training programs; Table 4 lists mentor grant support; Table 5 lists mentor trainees over the past 10 years; Table 8 lists post- doctoral applicants for fellowships over the past 5 years. It is anticipated that this program will lead to the training of exceptional bioengineers, who will embark on promising careers focusing on interdisciplinary diabetes research.