Research Project
10153850
Summary/Abstract This renewal application requests support for pre- and post-doctoral trainees in an Integrated Cardiovascular Pathophysiology (ICVP) training program. Faculty mentors in the ICVP training program primarily have their appointments within the Cardiovascular Research Center (Directed by Dr. Steven Houser, ICVP program director) or the Center for Translational Medicine (directed by Dr. Walter Koch, Co-Director of the ICVP program) at Temple University School of Medicine. The purpose of our program is to provide a broad based multidisciplinary training experience for pre-doctoral fellows, post-doctoral fellows and summer medical students in the area of integrative cardiovascular pathophysiology (ICVP). ICVP faculty members reside with many different basic science and clinical Departments, but their research laboratories are largely within the CVRC and CTM which are housed on two adjacent floors of a new medical research building. ICVP investigators/mentors have related interests in fundamental properties of the cardiovascular system and the aberrant changes in these properties that cause cardiovascular dysfunction in diseases including ischemic heart disease, hypertensive heart disease, atherosclerosis, ischemic vascular disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetic cardiovascular diseases. Graduate students and post-doctoral fellows will receive didactic training in human physiology and pathophysiology, complemented by advanced training in cellular and molecular biology and the appropriate use of animal models of human cardiovascular disease. Graduate student and fellow research projects will have basic and translational components. The students and fellows will be expected to investigate problems that go beyond a single molecule and address questions within the context of cardiovascular disease models. Portions of these projects will be performed in the laboratories of different investigators, ensuring that students and fellows are exposed to varied scientific approaches. All trainees will be involved in activities to enhance their grant and manuscript writing and oral communication skills. Group mentoring by junior and senior faculty will ensure trainees are well qualified to assume positions as leading investigators able to rapidly translate new knowledge into new therapies or targets for therapies. A variety of recruiting strategies will be used to attract a diverse group of trainees that reflect the diversity of our country. The goal is to train a diverse group of new Ph.Ds. and post-doctoral fellows that are able to fill a national need for the next generation of biomedical scientists who can develop therapies for cardiovascular diseases..
