Northwestern University Molecular and Translational Cardiovascular Training Program

This is an application for basic cardiovascular Research Training at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. We have witnessed rapid advances in the scientific knowledge in cardiovascular (CV) disease in the past few years, and this has created unparalleled opportunities for new discoveries that can potentially lead to better treatment options. The objective of the Northwestern University Molecular Cardiology Training Program (NUMCTP) is to request funding for a unique and comprehensive program that is designed to train the next generation of researchers interested in CV physiology and disease. This first time proposal request comes at a time of substantial and sustained growth in cardiovascular research and the research enterprise of the Feinberg School of Medicine. NUMCTP is unique in that it will encompass 6 distinct areas of CV concentration, ranging from myocardial biology to genomics/proteomics and imaging. The program will include 31 outstanding research scientists as mentors, who have extensive experience in pre- and postdoctoral training, and have collaborated with other mentors or scientists nationally and internationally. Our program will also use the expertise of a group of investigators who will serve as translational advisors to assist our mentees with the clinical implications of their basic science findings, and to provide career advice to them. This will provide a training environment that enables trainees to obtain the full range of exposure and training they need to become the next generation of researchers and leaders in CV disease. There is no current program that emphasizes the basic mechanisms of CV disease at Northwestern University. Predoctoral trainees will come from the Driskill Graduate Program in Life Sciences (DGP) and the Medical Scientist Program (MSTP), while postdoctoral trainees will be PhD and MD research fellows. The program will be regularly and rigorously evaluated using different mechanisms, including evaluation by an Executive Committee, an External Advisory Committee, the trainees, and by tracking the progress of former trainees. We have started a CV didactic course and a Northwestern CV Research Day, which will highlight the accomplishments of our trainees and will allow close interaction between our mentees and the invited speaker. NUMCTP also has mechanisms in place to catalyze interactions between our trainees with scientists at other institutions (by supporting our trainees to attend national conferences) and by allowing them to invite and host outside speakers. The program requests support for 2 postdoctoral fellows and 1 predoctoral student per year in the first year, and 4 postdoctoral and 2 predoctoral trainees in years 2-5 of the grant. Each trainee will be supported for a total of 2 years. Funding of NUMCTP will provide Northwestern with the means to stimulate cross-disciplinary collaboration, and train the next generation of scientists that will work at the forefront of CV research, and understand the translational implication of their findings.