Training in Translational Research in Pulmonary Vascular Biology

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Biomedical investigators are experiencing a limitation in their collective ability to translate the remarkable basic science discoveries of the current era into the clinical arena—a divide appropriately termed “the valley of death.” In our first two funding cycles, we have established a strong T32 postdoctoral training program in bench-to-bedside research methodology designed to train the next generation of clinical and basic researchers in translational approaches to pulmonary vascular biology and medicine. The program has thus far trained twenty-three trainees, who have had significant success in publication, grant funding, and securing academic positions; thirteen of these trainees were women, three identified as under-represented minorities (URM). Our program recognized the necessity for practical training in scientific entrepreneurship and biotechnology, and our efforts in bolstering this aspect of training have resulted in three trainees obtaining an MBA. In the third cycle of funding, we will continue to evolve and enhance our training program. We are focused on strategies to increase the diversity among our trainees; and in response to our trainees’ requests for entrepreneurship education without the commitment to obtaining an MBA, we have added options for micro-credential programs and formed an Entrepreneurship Educational Board. Further, to enhance the training of our post-doctoral trainees and expand the scope of our program, we will informally include participation by local pre-doctoral trainees in select components of our existing curriculum. Importantly, our post- doctoral trainees will continue to be co-mentored by a faculty with complementary research approaches to provide comprehensive training, and projects focused on patient-oriented bench- to-bedside research, with constant attention to trainee career development. Our faculty include translationally-focused physician-scientists and PhDs spanning basic science to entrepreneurship, with a history of productivity in pulmonary vascular biology, excellent funding support, successful mentoring, and expertise from molecular discovery to clinical trials to biotechnology commercialization. Substantial institutional support is available through endowments to the VMI. The proposed training program, leadership, advisory boards, training faculty, and infrastructure at the University of Pittsburgh are strongly positioned to build on an already rich bench-to-bedside translational training program and create a generation of researchers committed to spanning the “valley of death” between basic research discoveries, clinical application, and commercial viability in pulmonary vascular disease.