Research Training in Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine

Project Summary/Abstract Modern anesthesiology and pain medicine have increasingly become an interdisciplinary specialty of medicine that requires integrated knowledge in anesthesiology, critical care medicine, neurobiology, pharmacology, structural and computational biology, pulmonary physiology, and molecular biology and genetics. This competitive renewal application seeks funding for years 16-20 of our successful T32 training program in postgraduate anesthesia research training at the University of Pittsburgh. Our primary goal is to continue training physician scientists to lead the future intellectual pursuits in anesthesiology beyond the confines of the traditional provision of anesthesia and to become independently funded investigators and leaders in the field. The trainees from our previous funding cycles have demonstrated success in this path, producing numerous peer-reviewed publications, achieving seed, startup, foundation, and NIH K- and R-level grant funding, and presenting at scientific conferences. We propose to add two fellows each year in Years 16-20 and hence request four training slots per year to ensure a minimum of two-year training for each fellow. A team of 35 principal training faculty with excellent training records and successful research programs funded by the NIH and other agencies have been carefully selected. A new cohort of six junior training faculty (five are alumni of this training program) will be paired with more senior faculty to actively participate in the mentoring of our future trainees. Programmed training and research activities will target anesthesiology-related problems defined in the broadest sense. The planned two-year training will combine structured didactic and interactive teaching on both a group and individual basis, as well as one-on-one mentoring in laboratory/clinical research. Multiple courses and online training sessions in research integrity and scientific rigor are mandatory for all trainees. Departmental, institutional, and programmatic efforts are established to actively recruit underrepresented minority trainees and people with disabilities into the program. A supportive mentoring environment ensures the retention and career advancement of these trainees. The administrative infrastructure consists of the Oversight Committee led by the Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine and the Executive Committee chaired by the Program Director. The Executive Committee, working closely with the trainees and the training faculty, will be in charge of the selection, appointment, and assignment of the trainees, and manage the review and evaluations of the training faculty and trainees. Continuation of NIH support to this postdoctoral training program, which focuses primarily on training physician scientists, will provide both unique opportunities and critically needed resources for the next generation of academic anesthesiologists to integrate multidisciplinary knowledge from the bench- top to the bedside.