Cardiovascular Bioengineering Training Program

描述（由申请人提供）： 匹兹堡大学（UOP）生物工程系正在寻求对博士前培训计划（8个职位/年）的持续支持，旨在教育来自工程和其他定量科学的有才华的学生从事心血管领域的生物医学研究。UOP一直处于教育和研究在这一领域的前沿，有两个关键组成部分有助于这一地位。首先，一个机制是到位，使我们的学生接触到第一手的实际临床问题，需要生物工程输入他们的解决方案在各个医学学科（例如，心脏病学、心胸外科、血管外科、放射学）。第二，有，并将继续是一个重要的机构承诺，这些研究和教育的努力。拟议的计划是跨学科和跨部门的性质。虽然生物工程系是核心，但培训教师来自多个部门：化学工程，细胞生物学和生理学，医学（心脏病学），重症监护医学，儿科（心脏病学）和外科（血管）。参与的教职员工是（生物）工程师，生理学家，生物药理学家，细胞和分子生物学家，成人和儿科心脏病学家，以及重症监护专家，具有蓬勃发展和资金充足的研究计划。该计划有三个重点领域：（1）对天然（正常和病理条件）和扰动（即，使用人造装置或结构）在各种组织水平（细胞、组织、整个器官）的心血管功能，（2）在各种组织水平（细胞、组织、整个器官）的功能评估的成像，和（3）人造装置和结构（机械、组织工程和混合）的设计和优化。学生主要来自工程学校，尽管他们也可能来自生物，物理，化学和数学。计划课程（12个教学课程和几个研讨会）旨在提供工程和生物科学的广度和深度，还包括正式接触生物统计学，生物伦理学以及专业和职业发展问题。该计划的一个新颖的方面是，学生必须正式参加临床经验（临床实习和轮换）。因此，培训计划提供了一个独特的教育和研究经验方面的基础和应用心血管工程和科学。最后，每个学生在培训学院的实验室接受广泛的研究培训。17名博士前学员参加了该计划在当前（第一）周期，我们认为，学员的表现和计划成果一直很突出（见进度报告）。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh (UOP) is seeking continued support for a predoctoral training program (8 positions/year) aimed at educating talented students from engineering and other quantitative sciences for careers in biomedical research in the cardiovascular area. UOP has been at the forefront of education and research in this field, with two key components contributing to this status. First, a mechanism is in place whereby our students are exposed first-hand to actual clinical problems requiring bioengineering input for their solution within various medical disciplines (e.g., cardiology, cardio-thoracic surgery, vascular surgery, radiology). Second, there has been, and continues to be, a significant Institutional commitment to these research and educational endeavors. The proposed program is interdisciplinary and interdepartmental in nature. Although the Department of Bioengineering forms the core, the training faculty is drawn from a number of departments: Chemical Engineering, Cell Biology & Physiology, Medicine (Cardiology), Critical Care Medicine, Pediatrics (Cardiology), and Surgery (Vascular). The participating faculty members are (bio) engineers, physiologists, biophysicist, cell and molecular biologists, adult and pediatric cardiologists, and critical care specialists, with vigorous and well-funded research programs. There are three focus areas of this program: (1) Basic understanding and quantitative characterization of native (normal and pathological conditions) and perturbed (i.e., with deployment of man-made devices or constructs) cardiovascular function at various levels of organization (cell, tissue, whole organ), (2) Imaging for functional assessment at various levels of organization (cell, tissue, whole organ), and (3) Design and optimization of artificial devices and constructs (mechanical, tissue-engineered, and hybrid). Students are drawn mainly from engineering schools, although they may also come from biology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics. Program coursework (12 didactic courses and several workshops) is designed to provide both breadth and depth in engineering and biological sciences and also includes a formal exposure to biostatistics, bioethics, and professional and career development issues. A novel aspect of the program is that students are required to formally participate in a clinical experience (Clinical Internship and Rotation). Thus, the training program provides a unique educational and research experience with respect to basic and applied cardiovascular engineering and sciences. Finally, each student receives extensive research training in the laboratories of the training faculty. Seventeen predoctoral trainees have participated in the program during the current (first) cycle and we believe that the trainee performance and program outcomes have been outstanding (see Progress Report).