Engineering Structural Tissues for Clinical Medicine

描述（由申请人提供）：匹兹堡组织工程倡议（PTEI）是该机构NRSA的申请组织，以支持在医学和外科临床应用中的肌肉骨骼组织工程（TE）的博士后奖学金培训。PTEI是一个非营利组织，其使命是促进TE研究和教育的区域，国家和国际。主要的区域学术机构（阿勒格尼总医院、卡内基梅隆大学、匹兹堡儿童医院、迪克讷大学、匹兹堡大学和匹兹堡大学医学中心）都是PPEI的成员，并为TE学术研究和开发提供场所。PTEI通过种子研究赠款和教育计划（包括博士后奖学金计划）支持这些组织。此外，PTEI还与新兴的TE生物技术商业企业建立了大学学术关系。PTEI博士后奖学金计划始于2000年1月，其特殊之处在于，每个研究员都被分配了一名主要和一名次要导师，这些导师是从成员机构中选出的，并基于导师的专业知识与研究员之前的培训和TE内部所需的重点之间的对应关系。这两个导师可能在同一个或不同的机构。导师包括医学博士，医学博士，D.D.S. s，Ph.D.s，和那些有双学位的人;重点是临床医生-基础科学家的导师配对。因此，支持设施和教学机会跨越匹兹堡的主要学术机构。研究金为期两年，可选择第三年。每个研究员在初级导师的实验室度过两年研究金的2/3-3/4，其余时间与二级导师在一起;这些任务可以是连续的或同时的。根据需要安排额外的特别经验。卡内基梅隆大学开设的开办生物技术公司的入门课程和负责任地进行研究的正式指导是必要的教学活动。主要导师的机构管理奖学金的行政方面，PPEI以合同方式向该机构提供资金支持。前两名博士后研究员于2000年初开始，后两名于2001年初开始。第三轮广告将于2002年2月开始。一个当地的PPEI执行委员会为奖学金计划提供行政监督，一个更大的科学咨询委员会正在成立。最初的奖学金资金由地方和联邦资金提供，但该计划的继续和扩大取决于更广泛的校外支持。肌肉骨骼TE是PTEI成员机构目前的主要优势;因此，该申请专注于TE的这一领域及其临床应用。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative (PTEI) is the applicant organization for this Institutional NRSA to support postdoctoral fellowship training in musculoskeletal tissue engineering (TE) for clinical applications in medicine and surgery. PTEI is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to foster TE research and education regionally, nationally, and internationally. The major regional academic institutions (Allegheny General Hospital, Carnegie Mellon University, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, University of Pittsburgh, and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) are members of PTEI and provide the venues for TE academic research and development. PTEI supports these organizations through seed research grants and educational programs, including its Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. As well, PTEI fosters university-academic relationships with the burgeoning TE biotechnology commercial enterprise. The PTEI Postdoctoral Fellowship Program began in January 2000 and is special in that each fellow is assigned a primary and a secondary mentor, chosen from the member institutions and based on the correspondence between the mentors' expertise and the fellow's prior training and desired focus within TE. The two mentors may be in the same or different institutions. The mentors include M.D.s, D.M.D.s, D.D.S.s, Ph.D.s, and those with dual degrees; emphasis is on clinician-basic scientist pairing of mentors. The supporting facilities and didactic opportunities thus span the major academic institutions in Pittsburgh. The Fellowship is two years long, with an option for a third year. Each fellow spends 2/3-3/4 of the two-year fellowship in the primary mentor's laboratories and the rest with the secondary mentor; these assignments may be consecutive or concurrent. Additional ad hoc experiences are arranged as needed. An introductory course in starting a biotechnology company, taught at Carnegie Mellon University, and formal instruction in the responsible conduct of research are required didactic activities. The primary mentor's institution manages the administrative aspects of the fellowship, and PTEI contractually provides monetary support to that institution. The first two post-doctoral fellows began in early 2000, and the second two began in early 2001. Advertising for the third round will begin in February 2002. A local PTEI Executive Committee provides administrative oversight for the Fellowship Program, and a larger Scientific Advisory Committee is being established. Initial fellowship funding has been provided by both local and federal funding, but continuation and expansion of the program depends on wider extramural support. Musculoskeletal TE is the current major strength of PTEI's member institutions; this application, therefore, is focused on this area of TE and its clinical application.