Cardiovascular Bioengineering Training Program

匹兹堡大学(UPitt)生物工程系正在寻求继续支持 博士前培训计划(8个职位/年)，旨在培养工程和工程专业的有才华的学生 其他定量科学，用于心血管领域的生物医学研究。乌皮特一直在 这是该领域教育和研究的前沿，有两个关键因素促成了这一地位。 首先，我们建立了一个机制，让我们的学生直接接触到实际的临床问题。 需要在不同的医学学科(例如，心脏病学、心内科-- 胸外科、血管外科、放射学)。第二，已经并将继续出现重大的 机构对这些研究和教育努力的承诺。拟议的计划是 跨学科性质。虽然生物工程系是核心，但培训人员是 来自多个系：生物医学信息学、化学工程、医学(心脏病学、 肺部医学)、重症监护医学、药理学、外科和整形外科。这个 参与的教员包括(生物)工程师、生理学家/生物物理学家、细胞和分子生物学家、 生物医学信息学专家、心脏病专家和肺病专家，精力旺盛，资金雄厚 研究项目。该方案的重点有三个方面：(1)基本认识和量化 原生(正常和病理情况)和不安(即部署人--)的特征 制造装置或构造)不同组织水平(细胞、组织、整体)的心血管功能 器官)，(2)用于不同层次组织(细胞、组织、整个器官)的功能评估的成像， 以及(3)人工设备和结构的设计和优化(机械的、组织工程的和 杂交种)。目前的提案包括明确强调生物医学创新和创业， 这与项目教职员工进行的重要翻译研究是一致的 实习生。虽然大多数项目实习生都有(生物)工程背景，但也有一些来自其他 学科(例如，生物、物理、化学、数学)。课程作业(10门授课课程和 多个研讨会)旨在提供工程和生物科学方面的广度和深度 还包括对生物统计学、生物伦理学以及专业和职业发展的正式接触 问题。该计划的一个新方面是，学生被要求正式参加临床 经验(临床实习和轮换)。因此，培训计划提供了一种独特的教育和 基础和应用心血管工程和科学方面的研究经验。最后， 每个学生都在培训学院的实验室接受广泛的研究培训。二十六个 博士前实习生在当前(第二)周期内参加了该项目，我们认为 实习生的表现和项目成果一直很突出(见进度报告)。

The Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh (UPitt) 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. UPitt 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 in nature. Although the Department of Bioengineering forms the core, the training faculty is drawn from a number of departments: Biomedical Informatics, Chemical Engineering, Medicine (Cardiology, Pulmonary Medicine), Critical Care Medicine, Pharmacology, Surgery, and Orthopaedic Surgery. The participating faculty members are (bio)engineers, physiologists/biophysicists, cell & molecular biologists, biomedical informatics specialists, cardiologists, and pulmonologists, 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). The current proposal includes an explicit emphasis on biomedical innovation and entrepreneurship, which is consistent with the significant translational research performed by the Program faculty and trainees. Although most Program trainees have (bio)engineering background, some come from other disciplines (e.g., biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics). Program coursework (10 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. Twenty six predoctoral trainees have participated in the program during the current (second) cycle and we believe that the trainee performance and program outcomes have been outstanding (see Progress Report).