Postdoctoral Training Program in Pulmonary and Critical Care Translational Research

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Project Summary/Abstract We enthusiastically submit this revised application for our T32 training program here at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) entitled Postdoctoral Training Program in Pulmonary and Critical Care Translational Research. The primary goal of our program is the career development of the next generation of scientific leaders in the fields of pulmonary and critical care medicine along three integrated thematic pathways that provide comprehensive training in 1) Lung Injury and Inflammation, 2) Precision Medicine and Computational Approaches, and 3) Comparative Effectiveness and Health Inequality. This innovative new program builds upon our experience and success achieved over a recent 10 year period with a prior postdoctoral T32 based here in our Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep, and Allergy. This prior program had an outstanding trajectory of success, with our recent T32 trainees earning 3 new K08s, 1 K23, and 1 R01 in the past two years alone. Moreover, 13 out of the last 18 T32 fellows in our prior program continue to pursue scientifically-oriented careers. With this new program, we build upon this impressive history of success and have substantially advanced and expanded our training environment through the recruitment of multiple new faculty. The addition of their various areas of scientific expertise brings new state-of-the-art dimensions to our training environment. Our underlying premise and unifying hypothesis is that an integrated program focused on cutting-edge research approaches will inspire a new generation of successful scientific leaders in lung diseases. With frequent input and feedback from faculty, trainees, and internal and external advisors, we continually enhance and improve our training program to optimize the career development and scientific success of our trainees. Major programmatic enhancements in this new program include the following:  Faculty expansion and development have added training opportunities in multiple new fields—lung microbiome, sarcoidosis, lung cancer, precision medicine, computational modeling, healthcare design, population health science  Transition to a multi-PI leadership structure to optimize program oversight and growth  Detailed description of current training timeline and trainee milestones  Formation of a Minority Advisory Committee  Incorporation of former T32 trainees and junior faculty into the program as “near peer” advisors  Required training in scientific rigor and reproducibility for T32 trainees  Expanded annual training in mentorship that is required for faculty  Incorporation of a PhD Training Committee to enhance recruitment and training of PhD candidates  “360 degree evaluation” with emphasis on current and former trainee program reviews at annual retreat Candidates will be accepted for 2-3 years of research training based on exceptional personal qualifications.