Training to provide the knowledge, skills, and culture to the next generation of cardiovascular scientists

Ohio State University, Columbus OH

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY Cardiovascular disease remains the number one cause of death in the United States. The efficient development of future novel diagnostics and therapies to identify and treat cardiovascular disease will require highly collaborative and multi-disciplinary teams consisting of the best basic, translational and clinical investigators. To achieve this overarching goal, it will first be essential for cardiovascular researchers to possess multi-disciplinary skills and work in highly inter-disciplinary, collaborative and translational teams to efficiently move knowledge from the bench to the bedside, to the community and back. Second, to obtain optimal productivity towards improving cardiovascular health of the population, it is essential to utilize the contributions from the best of the entire scientific workforce. We have established a Training Program addressing these two unmet needs that will ultimately be required to optimally train and retain the next generation of the best cardiovascular investigators. The goals of this Training Program are: To provide multi-faceted cardiovascular research training to work in collaborative, multidisciplinary teams that will facilitate efficient translation of scientific findings to improve human health. To enhance the numbers of outstanding researchers and leaders by providing professional development skills training to promote the success and retention of the best investigators in independent scientific careers in cardiovascular research. In addition to advanced Cardiac Physiology and Biostatistics coursework, Rigor and Reproducibility, and Responsible Conduct of Research Training, several innovative Program Activities were implemented in the first funding cycle to achieve these goals. Highly interactive Professional Development Workshops supply predoctoral trainees with key professional and leadership skills to accelerate their career trajectories and retain the best scientific investigators at later career stages. These workshops also provide valuable networking opportunities for trainees with prominent visiting cardiovascular scientists. The Clinical Mentorship program allows trainees to learn the language and culture within clinical medicine and to develop the skills needed to form future collaborations with physicians. Molecular and Cellular Cardiophysiology research-in-progress presentations are highly interactive and improve both the research and presentation skills of the trainees as well as emphasize rigor and reproducibility. In this renewal, we will continue to expand upon these programs by also including Career Mentorship to meet the individualized career goals of trainees. At The Ohio State University, we have a highly collaborative and multi-disciplinary scientific infrastructure that has been created to support translational cardiovascular research, education, and training. The mentors on this T32 application are all established scientists in their field, have a passion for training, and are committed to the goals of this Training program.