Interdisciplinary Training Program in Cardiovascular Disease

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The Interdisciplinary Training Program in Cardiovascular Disease provides interdisciplinary training for 5 predoctoral and 5 postdoctoral PhD or MD fellows. This program emphasizes research training in vascular biology/thombosis, inflammation, transfusion medicine, cardiac cell biology and genomics of cardiovascular disease along with enabling technologies that include bioinformatics, stem cell biology and bioengineering. The goals of our training program are twofold: to provide PhD trainees with outstanding research training and to place their investigative work in context by exposure to clinical and translational topics in cardiovascular medicine, while for MD trainees, to align then with basic researchers at the forefront of their field and employing state-of- the-art technology to assist in developing physician scientists capable of pursuing competitive careers as clinician scientists. Our 29 faculty members are derived from 14 basic science and clinical Departments/Organized Research Centers/Institutes located within the Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore and the School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. Postdoctoral fellows include PhD and MD trainees and are derived from all participating Departments/Organized Research Centers/Institutes. Pre-doctoral trainees are drawn from our interdepartmental umbrella Graduate Program in Life Sciences in the School of Medicine, as well as from the Pharmaceutical Science graduate program in the School of Pharmacy and the Fischell Department of Bioengineering in the School of Engineering. Emphasis is placed on the recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups and the incorporation of diversity in the Training Faculty. The major didactic aspect of our training involve three one-semester interdisciplinary courses on vascular and stem-cell biology and cardiac cell physiology, which are team-taught by the program faculty and well-received by our trainees as well as a state-of-the-art laboratory method course to introduce trainees to imaging technologies, surface plasmon resonance, bioinformatics, proteomics, flow cytometry, structural biology and genomics. A monthly “Research In-Progress” seminar series is presented by trainees and supported by the training program faculty and other key researchers which provides an opportunity for interaction amongst trainees and training faculty and ensures rigor in the training process. An additional didactic component has been developed specifically for MD trainees with minimal prior exposure to laboratory research, setting the groundwork for them to become successful physician scientists. PhD trainees are exposed to opportunities in the Biotech industry through a novel “Bridges To Biotech” program that interfaces trainees with local Biotech companies. All trainees from this program are well equipped with multidisciplinary and state- of-the-art approaches to investigate fundamental problems in Cardiovascular disease and are mentored by experienced and dedicated faculty to allow them to succeed, whether in the Biotech industry or as scientists in academics.