Project Grant T32TR004905

CTSA PREDOCTORAL T32 AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER AT HOUSTON - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT PROGRAMS DESIGNED TO TRAIN FUTURE GENERATIONS OF RESEARCHERS WHO ARE ABLE TO THINK AND WORK TOGETHER IN CROSS- DISCIPLINARY, TEAM ENVIRONMENTS ARE CENTRAL TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE IN THE UNITED STATES. WITH THE ACCELERATING PACE OF DISCOVERY IN BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE, THE NEED FOR TRANSLATIONAL SCIENTISTS IS GREATER THAN EVER. THE GOAL OF THIS PREDOCTORAL T32 APPLICATION IS TO TRAIN SIX TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE RESEARCHERS AT THE PREDOCTORAL LEVEL WHO WILL BUILD A COMMUNITY OF CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENTISTS BY LEVERAGING THE MULTI- INSTITUTIONAL MULTI-DISCIPLINARY STRENGTHS OF A CENTER FOR CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCES (CCTS) BASED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER AT HOUSTON (UT-H). THROUGH A TL1 GRANT WHICH PRECEDED THIS APPLICATION, AWARDED AS THE TRAINING CORE OF THE CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE AWARD, WE HAVE A SUCCESSFUL RECORD OF TRAINING A DIVERSE AND PRODUCTIVE GROUP OF TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCHERS. HISTORICALLY, PREDOCTORAL TRAINEES SUPPORTED BY THE TL1 GRANT HAVE BEEN ENROLLED IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MD ANDERSON UTHEALTH HOUSTON GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES (UT-GSBS), A GRADUATE SCHOOL JOINTLY ADMINISTERED AND SHARED BY UTH-H AND MDACC. THE UT-GSBS IS UNIQUE IN THAT IT FACILITATES THE TRAINING OF A LARGE NUMBER OF PHD AND MD/PHD STUDENTS AT 2 MAJOR INSTITUTIONS WITHIN THE TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER (TMC), UTH- H AND MDACC. THE GRADUATE PROGRAMS AT UT-GSBS PROVIDE RIGOROUS DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC TRAINING IN A NUMBER OF RESEARCH CONCENTRATIONS. HOWEVER, A UNIQUE ASPECT OF OUR CCTS IS THE INCLUSION OF PARTNER INSTITUTIONS SPANNING THE STATE OF TEXAS. IN THIS PREDOCTORAL T32 PROPOSAL, WE WILL CONTINUE TO TRAIN LEADERS IN TRANSLATION SCIENCE WHILE INTEGRATING TRAINEES FROM CCTS PARTNER INSTITUTIONS. THIS WILL BRING ADDITIONAL DIVERSITY TO THE T32 SINCE THESE TRAINEES WILL DRAW UPON THE BROAD RACIAL, ETHNIC, GENDER, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL BACKGROUNDS REPRESENTED IN TEXAS WHICH IS THOUGHT TO BE A BLUEPRINT FOR THE NATION'S FUTURE DEMOGRAPHICS. FURTHERMORE, THE TRAINING FACULTY AND THEIR MENTEES AT THE CCTS PARTNER SITES WILL BRING AWARENESS OF UNIQUE RESEARCH TOPICS AND COLLABORATIVE OPPORTUNITIES TO THE FOREFRONT OF THE T32 TRAINEE EXPERIENCE FOR THOSE BASED IN THE TMC. THE FOLLOWING AIMS WILL ENABLE US TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL:1: ATTRACT AND RETAIN DIVERSE PREDOCTORAL TRAINEES WITH THE POTENTIAL TO DEVELOP INTO LEADERS IN TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE. 2: LEVERAGE THE STRENGTHS OF THE UNIQUE CCTS ECOSYSTEM TO TRAIN PREDOCTORAL FELLOWS IN PRINCIPLES OF TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE. WE WILL UTILIZE THE WORLD-CLASS EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES OF THE TMC TO CARRY OUT THESE AIMS AND TRAIN TRANSLATIONAL SCIENTISTS ACROSS THE STATE. BY DRAWING UPON THE TRAINEE DIVERSITY THAT IS AVAILABLE IN OUR PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS THAT GRANT DOCTORAL DEGREES (RICE UNIVERSITY, UT-RGV AND UT-TYLER), THIS TRAINING PROGRAM IS UNIQUELY POSITIONED TO CREATE THE TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE LEADERS OF THE FUTURE. WE ANTICIPATE THIS PREDOCTORAL T32 PROGRAM WILL FILL THE NEED FOR CREATING A WIDE- RANGING POOL OF TRANSLATIONAL SCIENTISTS WHO ARE DIVERSE, INNOVATIVE, PRODUCTIVE, AND CAPABLE OF ADDRESSING THE HEALTH NEEDS OF A WIDE-RANGING POPULACE THROUGH RESEARCH.