Surgery Research Training Program

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Training physician-scientists in the fields of inflammation, tissue injury, trauma and sepsis is the primary goal of the University of Washington Trauma, Injury and Inflammation Research Training Program. Trauma, tissue injury and sepsis remain major causes of morbidity and mortality in developed and developing countries; understanding the biology of the host response to injury and infection and translating our knowledge into improving patient outcomes are ongoing needs. Our trainees are mentored and given the tools to establish independent research careers and advance the knowledge in this broad field. Our trainees will continue to primarily come from general surgery and related subspecialty training programs. They will select a mentoring committee, which includes a primary research mentor, additional research advisors and collaborators and one or more career mentors who will provide guidance and feedback on a regular basis to the trainee. The research “raw material” will primarily be human samples and data that are obtained as part of the ongoing clinical and translational research programs at Harborview Medical Center and the University of Washington. Trainees will learn and apply systems biology tools and methods to their chosen research problem. The initial years of this new training program emphasized translational research and required trainees to complete a master's degree through the School of Public Health, unless they already had a graduate degree. We will continue to require this for many of our trainees. While bench research was not a focus of the initial years of this program, we have expanded the research opportunities to provide our trainees the opportunity to focus on translational bench research if they choose. Our program continues to have a single track where trainees are focused on translational aspects of the biologic response to trauma, tissue injury and sepsis. We request an increase the number of stipends to support 2 incoming trainees per year (from the previously awarded 1 trainee per year). Over the past 4 years, we have demonstrated a sufficient applicant pool and the research infrastructure and mentorship to support this increase. Further, we have expanded our applicant pool and trainee research opportunities to ensure we can continue to support two incoming trainees per year. In summary the three legs of our research training program are: 1) Mentored research that provide the raw material and mentored exposure to systems biology and translational research. 2) Opportunities to obtain a master's degree focused on methods and skills required to develop a successful research career. 3) Infrastructure that supports biomedical research education and an environment encouraging diversity and collaboration.