Pitt Integrated Clinical and Geroscience Research Training Program
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ABSTRACT This is the fourth competing renewal of the Pitt Integrated Clinical and Geroscience Research Training Program T32. Our overarching goal is to produce a new generation of academic leaders who are committed to performing collaborative aging research across clinical, translational and basic sciences. Our program is one of only a few in the nation to train with an integrated clinical and biological perspective on aging. The University of Pittsburgh offers an outstanding milieu for this training, with exceptional depth and breadth of multidisciplinary aging research; experienced, involved, and well-funded mentors; and extensive resources for training in aging research across the clinical, translational, and biological areas. Our goals are to 1: Provide rigorous individualized training encompassing core knowledge, career mentoring and leadership development skills.; 2: Assemble multidisciplinary mentoring teams to provide expertise in the conduct of aging research in biologic, translational and clinical research projects from initial concept to completed and published work; 3: Expose all trainees to opportunities and challenges of working as a team across disciplines and scientific approaches; and 4: Attend to high priority areas for NIH-funded research training. Our program offers unique features including integrated training of clinicians and PhDs, a wide range of translational and reverse translation research opportunities, and a closely integrated set of research themes—Drug Discovery, Energetics, Late-life Functional Phenotypes, and Diversity of Risk within Aging—supported by extensive funding. Our comprehensive training program is built on a well-defined structure with five main areas of competence: core competency in clinical, translational, and biology of aging research methods; team collaboration techniques; professional skills; topical expertise; and responsible conduct of research. To achieve competence in these areas we employ the following training strategies: 1) an individual career development plan, 2) formal didactic sessions, 3) seminars and workshops on themes key to aging and leadership skills, 4) an individualized, integrated mentoring team including clinical and basic scientists, and 5) scheduled oversight and mutual feedback. The training program focuses on two levels of trainees; a 2–3-year postdoctoral program for physician investigators and postdoctoral fellows, and a 2-3-year predoctoral training program integrated into the University of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine Medical Scientist Training Program and select other Pitt predoctoral students with career interests in multidisciplinary aging research. The Pitt Integrated Clinical and Geroscience Research Training program will develop a diverse, cross-disciplinary, and translationally oriented workforce to meet the critical challenge of advancing research and therapeutics to maintain healthy aging and longevity.
