Training Program in Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases Research

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PROJECT SUMMARY The UAB Training Program in Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Disease Research (Director: John D. Mountz, MD, PhD; co-Director: Kenneth Saag, MD, MSc; and Associate Director: Andre Ballesteros, PhD) is built on the longstanding strengths in adult and pediatric rheumatology, immunology, musculoskeletal medicine, and our expertise in both early and later phase translational investigation. Over a past 5 year funding period, we built a highly successful program with an outstanding group of core mentors, a comprehensive and flexible training plan, and a balanced mix of basic and clinical trainees from a diverse set of backgrounds. In this resubmission application, we seek to continue to focus on training and career development of highly qualified pre-doctoral and postdoctoral (PhD, MD/PhD, or MD) trainees who are committed to careers in biomedical research that will serve the mission of NIAMS. This program has brought together the Divisions of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology and Pediatric Rheumatology, the Comprehensive Arthritis, Musculoskeletal, Bone, and Autoimmunity Center (CAMBAC), and other directly relevant departments and programs to provide a vibrant and effective interdisciplinary training environment. The proposed research training program will continue to enhance the integrated, interwoven fabric of collaborative science, which ranges from fundamental molecular discovery to applied clinical and translational research. It incorporates an established, well-funded faculty committed to training in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs). We have organized our program around three groups of mentors represent a diverse set of UAB Departments and Programs at UAB: 1. Core Mentors: established, extramurally (primarily NIH) funded investigators with programs focused on RMDs committed to training the next generation of researchers; 2. Content Mentors: a) clinicians or researchers with expertise in RMDs but whose role is primarily supportive; or with research funding in areas complementary to, or synergistic with, RMDs; and 3. Mentors in Training: Early career faculty who will be developed into outstanding research mentors to further strengthen the RMD research environment. Trainees will be selected for their commitment to research and academic medicine, and the members of the UAB training faculty are fully committed to continuing to provide mentorship, support, and guidance to additional young investigators to help them develop into independent researchers who will advance our knowledge of RMDs. The UAB Rheumatology T32 program reflects a focused, relevant, multi-disciplinary translational research training program at UAB. Our training program has assembled an outstanding core of scientific mentors and is uniquely prepared and strongly committed to training of the next generation of rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease investigators and generate knowledge relevant to the mission and priorities of the NIAMS and the nation.