Cardiovascular Surgery Research Training

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Project Summary The Cardiovascular Surgery Research Training Program’s main objective is to prepare full-time academic cardiovascular surgeons, clinicians and scientists in cardiac and vascular basic and translational research. This objective will be accomplished by an outstanding mentored research experience and rigorous programs of didactic and career development training in a multidisciplinary setting. The overall goal is to train 4 postdoctoral MD, PhD, and MD/PhD fellows per year in cardiovascular disease (CVD) research where trainees and faculty will interact closely. This training Program is designed to train and prepare the trainees to conduct research using state-of-the-art methods, conceptualize research problems, and publish research findings for successful academic careers as independent investigators. The fundamental need for research training in cardiovascular surgery is highlighted by studies showing that the number of clinician/surgeons and PhD scientists in translational CVD research continues to decline. Furthermore, research findings demonstrate that clinician-scientists who are most successful to date are the ones who have undergone a period of intense research training for two or more years as an integral part of their training. One- to two-year training of PhD scientists during their early postdoctoral training period will certainly help build a solid knowledge- and experience-based foundation to become excellent cardiovascular researchers in the coming days. Upon completion of this training program the cardiac and vascular surgeons and the cardiologists will be able to better integrate into the rapidly expanding and changing fields of specialized cardiovascular medicine and surgery. In parallel, in addition to having state- of-the-art cardiovascular research experience, the postdoctoral PhD scientists will be well-trained to address the major cardiovascular health issues, research questions and challenges of the day. While there are a few good training programs in cardiac medicine and surgical research, they tend to be limited in focus to certain specific issues such as transplantation, ventricular mechanics, and gene and cell-based therapies. The proposed training Program has been built upon an integrated approach to the training of a new generation academic cardiovascular surgeons and scientists, which in turn will result in excellent quality of teaching, success of research funding, and publication of high quality basic and translational research findings in the field of cardiovascular research.