Diabetes, Endocrine, and Metabolism

Project Summary This is a competitive renewal for our longstanding Training Program in Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolic Diseases. During the most recent funding cycle, 4 postdoctoral fellows were supported each year, with two additional postdoctoral fellows supported through Diversity Supplements. A total of 13 trainees working with 11 different mentors were supported during this cycle. The program is designed to accommodate PhD scientists, as well as physician scientists with MD or MD/PhD degrees. Of the 5 postdoctoral trainees supported by this T32 during the last 4 years who are no longer in training, three are junior faculty at Penn supported by K-awards, one is a bioinformatician at Penn, and one is a research associate at Yale. For the next period, we request continued funding of four postdoctoral fellows. We also request continued support of Penn’s NIDDK Medical Student Research Program, which has supported 12 medical students during this funding cycle. Our 23 training faculty have primary appointments in nine Medical School Departments and one Department in the School of Arts and Sciences and consist of 15 professors, 3 associate professors, and 5 assistant professors. In the last funding cycle, six mentors left Penn or changed status to emeritus, two were removed, and twelve were appointed to the training grant. Training grant faculty are highly funded by the NIH and direct programs in β-cell development and function, obesity, hormone action, physiology, diabetic complications, and genetics in humans and model organisms, with expertise in laboratory-based, translational, patient-oriented, and community-based research. The Program is strongly supported by access to a superb range of institutional resources at the University of Pennsylvania, including the DRC and CTSA. We have experienced programmatic growth in graduate students pursuing research in diabetes and obesity, and we are requesting 4 new slots to support predoctoral trainees. This training program continues to provide superb preparation for scientists committed to careers in research into diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolism.