UAB Pre-Doctoral Training Program in Obesity-Related Research

描述（由申请人提供）：肥胖是发病率和死亡率的主要来源，特别是心脏、肺和血液相关的发病率和死亡率。这个跨学科博士前培训项目的申请提供协调的指导、教学培训、职业发展活动和监督的研究经验，为博士生作为独立研究者的职业做好准备。拟议的博士前项目将建立在一个非常成功的试点实施的势头之上，并将补充和连接我们现有的nih资助的T32项目，用于肥胖研究的博士后培训。进入博士培训第二年的学生将根据个人兴趣参加正式的综合课程。受训者参加UAB的美国国立卫生研究院资助的营养肥胖研究中心的调查项目，该中心是全国仅有的12个这样的中心之一。每个受训者将有一个单独的指导小组，由一名主要导师和两名共同导师组成，其中一名导师来自三个主要学科领域（生物医学；行为/社会；定量/物理）。该学院的多学科性质（物理学家、医生、心理学家、统计学家、生理学家、遗传学家、流行病学家等）和强大的合作关系促进了多学科培训。任何UAB部门的学生都可以申请，但必须有一个由该项目批准的教师组成的指导团队，如果被选中，必须参加该项目专门的所有活动和课程。个人将从符合条件的校园一年级博士生中招募，并通过正式申请和委员会审查，根据研究生院的表现，教师的推荐，以及考虑他们的兴趣与教师和正在进行的研究项目的契合程度进行选择。所有受训者未来都必须计划从事与肥胖相关的调查研究。该计划提倡一种科学和道德严谨的调查方法。与项目主管一起定期审查个别受训者，确保他们在独立研究生涯中取得足够的进展。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Obesity is a major source of morbidity and mortality and of heart, lung, and blood related morbidity and mortality in particular. This application for an interdisciplinary pre-doctoral training program offers coordinated mentorship, didactic training, career development activities, and supervised research experiences to prepare PhD students for careers as independent investigators. The proposed pre-doctoral program will build on the momentum of a highly successful pilot implementation and will also complement and interface with our existing NIH-funded T32 program for post-doctoral training in obesity research. Students entering their 2nd year of PhD training will enroll in a formal integrated program tailored to individual interests. Trainees participate in the investigative programs of UAB's NIH-funded Nutrition Obesity Research Center, one of only 12 such centers nation-wide. Each trainee will have an individual mentoring team consisting of a primary mentor and two co-mentors with one mentor from each of three major disciplinary domains (Biomedical; Behavioral/Social; Quantitative/Physical). The faculty's multidisciplinary nature (physicists, physicians, psychologists, statisticians, physiologists, geneticists, epidemiologists, etc) and strong collaborative ties facilitates multidisciplinary training. Students from any UAB department may apply, but must have a mentoring team from this program's approved faculty, if selected, participate in all activities and coursework specialized for this program. Individuals will be recruited from the large pool of eligible 1st year PhD students on campus and selected via formal application and committee review, based on graduate school performance, faculty recommendations, and consideration of the degree to which their interests fit with those of the faculty and ongoing research programs. All trainees must have as a future plan an investigative career in obesity-related research. The program promotes an approach to investigation that is scientifically and ethically rigorous. Regular reviews of individual trainees with the program directors insure that adequate progress toward an independent research career is made.