Physician Scientist Training in Age-Related Diseases

ABSTRACT The goal of this new T32 post-doctoral training grant is to train exceptional physician-scientists for independent careers in age-related conditions. We will recruit physician-scientist trainees at the completion of clinical training and before the initiation of their independent research career. Given the growing number of older adults globally, the health-related issues of older adults will dominate the health care landscape. Physician-scientists are well poised to conduct translational research relevant to the older population as they can appreciate the clinical implications of pre-clinical research and have a unique ability to identify areas of research likely to have a substantial impact on clinical care. University of Michigan (UM) is uniquely positioned to train promising physician-scientists in age-related research as UM has robust programs in geroscience/biology of aging, geriatrics, clinical medicine and health policy research. To train physician-scientists in translational medicine in age-related conditions, we will include mentors that represent the spectrum of translational medical research from preclinical research, through to research in healthy and diseased human subjects (i.e., translational), to public policy and population health. The Director (Dr. Mody) and the two Co-Directors (Drs. Goldstein and Min) of this program are all physician- scientists who examine various aspects of age-related conditions across this translational research spectrum. Dr. Mody is a clinical interventionalist who has active collaborations with investigators who conduct basic genomic research to scientists in healthcare research policy. Dr. Goldstein examines how aging impacts inflammation by employing pre-clinical models of atherosclerosis, influenza viral infection, and organ transplantation. Dr. Min is a health services outcomes researcher with expertise in linking quality measures and quality improvement with clinical outcomes. Our training program includes faculty preceptors in each of the pre-clinical, translational and public policy domains. In addition to the individual expertise of the faculty, our program also will leverage several successful programs at UM including: The University of Michigan Older Americans Independence Center, the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research, Biology of Aging, Institute for Healthcare Policy and Research, Michigan Biology of Cardiovascular Aging and Institute for Social Research. We expect that our new training program will lead to a cadre of outstandingly trained young physician-scientists who will pursue cutting-edge translational research in age-related conditions and themselves become mentors and leaders in the field.