Integrated Musculoskeletal Training Program

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PROJECT SUMMARY Musculoskeletal diseases and injuries such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, tendinopathy, intervertebral disc degeneration and many more continue to be the leading causes of disability worldwide, imposing an enormous socioeconomic burden on the health care system in this country. This era has also ushered in paradigm-shifting scientific revolutions in tissue and regenerative medicine, in vivo and ex vivo disease modeling, sequencing and genomics, high- resolution imaging and biomechanics. These developments at the bench side require multidisciplinary expertise in science, engineering, and medicine to continue to accelerate the trajectory of musculoskeletal research to ultimately address unmet clinical needs at the bedside. However, research training in musculoskeletal research continues to be largely siloed into single discipline approaches and settings. In this application, we propose a new Integrated Musculoskeletal Training Program (IMTP) that brings together world leading musculoskeletal researchers and clinicians at Columbia University with expertise in biomedical engineering, cell and molecular biology, pathology and cell biology, mechanical engineering and innovation. This unique predoctoral training program focuses on integrating the multiple disciplines required for cutting edge research training of the next generation of scientists and engineers in the field. The proposed T32 training program will establish a unique training paradigm in musculoskeletal disease, with the following required training elements: (1) clinical preceptorship in musculoskeletal medicine (orthopaedic surgery, physical medicine and rehabilitation, rheumatology, radiology, etc.), (2) mandatory co-advising by a team consisting of a bioengineer, biologist, and a clinician, (3) innovation and design training for identifying clinical needs and gaps in knowledge / technology, and (4) training in diversity and equity challenges. This T32 training program will provide a unique and timely opportunity to promote, enhance, and deepen multidisciplinary musculoskeletal research by supporting trainees with the skills and the values needed to enter the biomedical research workforce and to solve the complex problems of musculoskeletal disease in the future.