Multi-Disciplinary Training Program in Translational Cardiovascular Research

This first renewal of our T32 program will train pre- and post-doctoral scientists in multi-disciplinary translational cardiovascular research to improve diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). CVD burden has been rising for decades in most countries and the age-standardized rate of CVD has also risen in locations where it had been previously declining (including many regions in the United States). Concurrently, the CVD workforce in the United States has been shrinking—including MD and PhD investigators who are trained in multidisciplinary CVD research and how to pursue solutions that would reduce the national and global CVD burden. The goals of this T32 training program are thus to attract and train a cohort of outstanding academic scientists in multidisciplinary translational CV research and build a robust training infrastructure to increase the number of scientists trained to conduct research to advance the treatment and prevention of CVD. Our 5-year proposal will enroll 1 MD, 1 PhD and 1 predoctoral trainee per year, each eligible for 3 years of training in CV science. The program builds on existing research strengths at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) including basic, clinical, and translational CV science using cellular, small animal, and single- and multi-center population cohort and clinical trials; and multiple educational programs supporting students and trainees in STEM fields as they pursue graduate degrees. Key features include: 1) multidisciplinary mentor teams matched to each trainee’s needs; 2) access to multiple phenotypic and biologic materials from major NIH-funded basic science, prospective cohort, or clinical trials at VCU via the supporting program faculty; 3) coursework from School of Medicine and other graduate-level programs to supplement trainee knowledge in CV research; and 4) institutional seminar programs that enhance interaction among individuals from multiple disciplines. New in this renewal are: a) adding predoctoral slots to support VCU graduate students interested in CV science; b) training in artificial intelligence methods, c) implementing a multi-principal investigator structure to broaden the expertise of the T32 leaders, d) preparing early-stage investigators to serve on mentoring teams and as future program leaders, and e) engaging trainees with community advisory boards to deepen their understanding of the bidirectional nature of translational research. The mentors in this training program include 25 established and 8 early-stage faculty from 14 departments. Each faculty member has extramural funding; strong institutional support in the form of financial resources, facilities, and equipment; and the ability to support trainees in key professional development activities, including presentations and grant/manuscript writing. Our first cycle enrolled its full complement of 8 trainees in CV science. All 5 graduates remain in academic medicine; they averaged 3.8 first-author publications, and 4 submitted proposals for peer-reviewed funding.